Happy New Year to you!

Well, the holidays are over and I’ve managed to survive financially…and thrive otherwise!

I was not relishing Christmas this year, in large part due to the end of my three-year relationship under some painful and rather unexpected circumstances earlier this year. That situation left me riding somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster and my financial health has not escaped unscathed. Let’s just say a little retail therapy has ensued these past 6 months and while it hasn’t been huge, I have incurred some debt whereas last year I engaged only in debt reduction.

Plagued with a sinking feeling about that for several weeks as Christmas approached, I was feeling distressed about spending more money, fearful of further debt. Additionally, I work full-time while doing part-time education and my family lives half-way across the country. So I’m pressed for time as well as money and in my current situation travelling home for the holidays was not a realistic option. Even buying and sending gifts haunted me because I was wanting to avoid the commercialism of Christmas while offering something meaningful which didn’t empty my bank account or cost a fortune to ship (in my experience, it’s often as - or more - expensive to ship a gift than it is to buy or make it in the first place!!).

To deal with time constraints imposed by finishing school only 10 days before Christmas, I chose to buy restaurant gift cards. This way I was able to do all my shopping one place for the family, complete it quickly, and slip the gift card into a greeting card that could be mailed for under a dollar. No waiting in line for an hour at the post office and a card seems to ship much more quickly than a parcel in the final 10 days before Christmas, without costing me a fortune.

Part of me felt this was a cop out because it didn’t feel particularly “meaningful”. But the practical side of me concluded that I was taking my family out for a meal I couldn’t otherwise afford to fly home for, that they might appreciate getting to go out together over the Christmas holidays when it’s so busy and everyone’s too tired to entertain yet again and the multi-restaurant option offered by the gift card meant a variety of choices in their local area. Dad & Sis live in different cities, but by sending the same card to my Dad and a separate one to my sister and her family, it also meant that if they all wanted to get together to have dinner then they could do that. The cost of the two cards combined was $75 so it didn’t break the bank!

Best of all, without a significant other to shop for this year, I was spared the expense, stress and endless hours of shopping I’ve done in past years. This year I decided to forego all gifts except for my immediate family. In so doing, I became very aware that one of the ways that Christmas is most costly for me is that as I’m buying gifts for others I think, “Wow, this is a really cool gift….I’d like to have one of these!” and I’d end up buying TWO of everything…d’oh! This year, the money I didn’t spend on everyone else (and a 2nd set of gifts for myself!) I was able to put towards taking a much-needed break over Christmas at a friend’s rustic cabin. I stayed for six rejuvenating days for the cost of transportation and food. And I bought her a very small gift to thank her for hosting me.

This was, by far, my least “commercial” Christmas yet. Amid the splendor and silence of a wooded cabin overlooking the ocean on BC’s Sunshine Coast, I took stock of my choices - financially and otherwise - and felt very blessed…and VERY peaceful.

May 2006 hold that for all of you!

Kat