[...] Life ROI – Meanwhile, MLR discusses the financial pressures that the holidays bring and ways to relieve the stress.  In the post, MLR notes that, “Financial stress can cause someone to lash out against their [...]

[...] has a guest post on @MyLifeROI giving us some tips on keeping financial stress at bay this holiday [...]

No, I didn’t give them extra money just to buy something for themselves. I gave them extra money to buy gifts for others. So, I was promoting giving instead of receiving. And, they liked buying and giving gifts a lot more than getting a bunch of gifts from me.

Now, my kids are getting big. They have jobs and earn their own Christmas money. But, they still have the Christmas spirit of giving.

We send out holiday cards, make some merry Christmas phone calls and then enjoy Christmas day at home with our own kids.

We have learned that being able to say NO is GOOD for the SOUL!
Emergency Cash´s last blog ..No Teletrack Payday Loans

It’s funny, but my joy in the gift giving is getting something for someone that they wouldn’t get for themselves, but could definitely use. Then seeing the excitement or joy that the gift brings. Money just doesn’t have the same thoughtfulness to me.

What’s important is that gift doesn’t have to come from a retail store. I found a great site, http://nochristmasgiftsthisyear.com/, that promotes the giving of someone’s time rather than a monetary gift. :)

Interesting concept. Gifts inevitably lead to a deadweight loss (meaning: You give a $20 pair of headphones to your son, which he isn’t too fond of. If he had $20 to spend otherwise, he could have made himself much more satisfied. This is inevitably a “gap” or “deadweight loss” between expectations and results).

By getting less gifts and just giving money, I can see how that would make things easier and more enjoyable. However, it could be weird if everyone is just exchanging money. At that point, why not just go buy something for yourself based on how much you were going to give and forego the giving?

Too much thought into this.. ;)

Great point. I haven’t used Budget Pulse (tbh), does it have a feature similar to Mint where you can plan for irregular expenditures in your budget?

For example: Say I spend $600 every December for Xmas gifts. I can have Mint budget $50 every month and roll it over so that in December I see I have “$600 to spend.”

I think you make a great point, planning is KEY.

You’re change towards spending time with family over purchasing material items is a great thought. Sometimes I wish my parents would do the same thing… but they just like to buy things. Unfortunately!