Kind of late, but can you spot yourself in any of these? Just remember not to do it for next year!
Guilt is the biggest source of overspending.
From: MSN.ca
-Homemade gift guilt: Take the year my Aunt Ginny decided to make everyone a special basket, packed with treats she’d made herself: “Oranges with cloves, homemade flavoured coffee, my own home-baked cookies — even homemade dog biscuits.” Then, because she felt like it wasn’t enough, she went out and bought everyone a “real” present. “I was crazy that year,” she says.
-Equalizing to excess: You get each of your kids (or parents or siblings) an equal distribution of presents. Except… maybe you should get Mom a couple of extra little things because Dad’s cashmere sweater obviously cost a bundle. But now Mom has three presents and Dad has only one, so the least you can do is get him a book… repeat until broke.
-Surprise-gift guilt: Your boss, friend, co-worker or neighbour gives you an unanticipated gift. D’oh! You should have anticipated this! You dash out to the store and add yet another item to your overwhelmed holiday budget.
-Reciprocal retaliation: This game is deadly and has a way of snowballing before you realize it. Three years ago, you and your mate gave a couple of your friends a dinky coupon for a free night of baby-sitting. They gave you pricey Broadway tickets. The second year, you ramped up and took them out for a swell dinner. They gave you a case of wine. This year, you just want to win, so you’re planning to give them an all-expense paid trip to Guadalajara — just so they’ll back down, and next year maybe you can get back to giving baby-sitting coupons. Won’t happen.
-Rejection rebound: In order to save money, you gave someone a gift that you got from someone else, forgetting it was the recipient who gave it to you last year. To make up for this offense, you overcompensate, now and possibly for years to come.
Clearly the issue here is that we think money speaks louder than our intentions. It doesn’t. Really. So before you hit the store, delete the guilt files from your operating system.
-Last-minute largesse: It’s the night before Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa and you are out cruising the stores that are open until midnight trying to get all your shopping done in one furious frenzy. But because you realize that this blows the whole “thought that counts” thing, the thoughtless gifts you buy are also wretchedly expensive.
-FedEx folly: You bought your niece in Nebraska a great new CD but waited so late to mail it that you’re spending more on shipping than the gift cost.
Really. Why do you think we are publishing this column now, except to give you a shot at shopping in a timely fashion? As financial planner Steinmetz points out, “Those who celebrate Hanukkah at least have some excuse — those holidays move around. But, hello, Christmas is always on the 25th. So what’s the problem?”
Holiday spirit overdrive
It sounds like a ’70s lounge band, and maybe it should have been. In reality, it’s a financial crime of passion. An insane impulse overcomes you — holiday joy? The spirit of Santa? Your medication is off? — and you find yourself committing one (or all) of the following:-Debt of 1,000 gifts: Getting everyone, I mean everyone, a little gift: all of your co-workers, the woman who cleans your house, the neighbour who jump-started your car in 1986, your baby-sitter, your dentist, etc. — to the tune of $4,876.
-Parental panic: You lay out all the gifts you got for the kids, and suddenly it’s just not enough. You love those kids so much. You can’t let them limp into January so deprived. What were you thinking? Back to the mall!
-Manic Martha-ism: For once, you’re going to celebrate the holidays in style. You’re going to throw that holiday party, take the kids to the “Nutcracker,” the Ice Capades and the “Clifford the Big Red Dog Live!” show. You’re going to cater a big holiday dinner and fly your parents in, and pay Martha Stewart to inject some holiday cheer into your décor.
Plead guilty, because there are too many witnesses. This year, when you sense an attack of holiday spirit coming on, send a card.
Eggnog wishes, caviar dreams
These are amazingly silly, but common, miscalculations in terms of volume, time or value.-Shopping by the truckload: You go to Costco or the mall and buy everything in sight, simply because there’s so much to buy.
-The 12 days of shopping: You haven’t found the perfect gift for her yet. You know you will. Meanwhile, you’ll just pick up a pair of these earrings. And a little scarf… And by the time you reach the end of your Quest for Perfection, you have 27 gifts, none of them quite right, except maybe the pear tree with the partridge in it.
-Art-fair amnesia: December is upon you, so you dash out and do all your shopping — completely forgetting that you already bought half the presents at that crafts fair in July.
These costly little slip-ups can happen in a variety of ways. How to prevent them is unclear. If only we could get them on video. At least you’d get a laugh out of yourself.
The ‘unreturnable’ impulse
This one deserves its own category because, of all spending blunders, it is the most preventable. Every year countless people fall into a stupor as they enter one of those vile shops full of ceramics, glass and twisted bronze ballet sculptures — and accidentally buy one for someone they love, who will inevitably hate it.
Read the entire article here.
- Major Holiday Busters Part 2
- Major Holiday Busters Part 1
- Debt-proofing your holiday
- Kids should be treated equally and fairly
- The Idiot is now going to Mexico for an extended vacation
Lady N
on Dec 24th, 2007
@ 4:37 PM:
OMG – I’m so guilty of so many of these…
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Dec 24th, 2007
@ 6:48 PM:
Lady N: Uh huh.. moi aussi!
Gauri
on Dec 24th, 2007
@ 6:51 PM:
Ahh I’m so glad I don’t have this problem. My family is Hindu and at our festival analagous to Christmas, Diwali, the presents are only supposed to go from older to younger, so I’m off the hook! (Though often I do get my parents and older sister presents because it’s fun) And my main group of friends has started to do Kris Kringle at Christmas so everyone only gets and gives one present, and that’s enough for us. I think I get off easy
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Dec 24th, 2007
@ 6:52 PM:
Gauri: You do get off easy, but I’m sure with Diwali it can also get really hairy if people mix Diwali with Xmas…
I like the Kris Kringle idea the best
Living Almost Large
on Dec 26th, 2007
@ 1:57 AM:
I hate giving gifts because someone else gave you one. I especially hate it when I am not expecting it. I’m trying a nice thank you note and NO reciprocal gift. I wonder if it’ll work?