Yesterday we did a bulk of our Christmas shopping. It's certainly not all done, but we've made good progress. We've done a great job finding good deals and keeping our spending down, which is wonderful! We've never been huge spenders for Christmas, but it's always been a stretch for us. For the last couple months we've been putting some money away for our gifts, so we haven't had to spend any out of our regular budget. :) After we got home with bags of gifts, I didn't have the 'ugh, how are you going to pay for all of this?' feeling that usually happens around this time of year? I had no anxiety or stress over the purchases because they were well within the amount we have saved, with enough left to still buy the remaining items we'll want to get. We'll also continue to put money aside for the next several checks until all our gifts are purchased. I actually feel excited to be generous too. I'm not having the 'cheap gifts' feeling that we've had in the past. We've even been able to buy more then one gift for people and still stay within our means. It's wonderful! The best part is that we haven't even had to put that much away each paycheck, it's been under $50 each time, so it hasn't been a huge sacrifice on that end either.
The best way to describe how I've been feeling is to say that Christmas is exciting and joyful again. It's simple in the sense that it's not emotionally draining or causing us to be anxious, but we're able to be generous. (No one is getting anything extravagant, for sure, or even a lot of stuff, but it's the way our hearts feel-lighter and excited to give). I think it's how Christmas really should feel, without the guilt of overspending or debt to repay afterwards.
Anyway, I know this is a little bit of a ramble post. It's hard to put into words how my experience shopping is different from other years, but it is and it's exciting. I'm looking forward to a lot more Christmas that feel this way! :)
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