Christmas spending is just like any other expense that needs to be planned and budgeted. Proper and logical allocation for expenses should prevail over our mindless infatuation of wanting to conform to traditions and social pressures.

Let’s all be practical and responsible. Christmas is not an excuse to start spending our hard-earned money, and it is also not a signal for us to start being extravagant.

As I’ve said before, spend it on paper before spending paper.

A few days ago, I was walking along Orchard Road in Singapore. I was marveling at how the huge department stores on that famous road were adorned with Christmas decorations. In fact, every store in Singapore was well-decorated: Orchard, Raffles, Bugis—all the commercial areas were intricately decorated for the holidays and were all beautiful.

In a few days I’ll be off to Hong Kong. I am pretty sure that like Singapore, Hong Kong will be just as beautifully decorated for Christmas, and by this time, it will be bustling with a lot of shoppers.

Christmas was originally a Christian holiday, commemorating the birth of our Savior, yet Singapore and Hong Kong are not predominantly Christian societies. Christmas has become a holiday everyone celebrates, regardless of religious affiliation.

While walking through the shopping areas at this time of the year can be a visual treat, the density of the shoppers can be an unpleasant encounter. Sifting through department stores, boutiques and all that trying to find the right gift for your loved ones can be challenging, especially for men like me. Don’t forget the many Christmas dinners you either host or attend.

What’s more maddening for me is the price tag this holiday carries. I am sure there are many out there who have no idea how much they spend during the holidays—and this is a perpetual issue year after year. Many times, we find that we overspent for the holidays again and vow to be more prudent the next year around.

Giving gifts to people you care about is a great gesture; kindness in any form is good, in my opinion. However, one must be mindful of the cost. Does this spending hurt the budget?

Worse, do you get in debt just to celebrate Christmas? What’s the real cost of all these? Why has rabid commercialism taken over such a holy celebration? Isn’t Christmas about Christ? Do we not celebrate this season to pay homage to the birth of our Savior who gave His life so we can be saved? What’s the connection between how we celebrate Christmas with our salvation through Christ? Jesus was born with utmost humility, in a manger.

I’m not trying to be a spoilsport; I love Christmas—giving and receiving gifts, attending parties and all that. But let us always remember the true essence of Christmas—that it is about Christ, not Santa.  If we can really understand “real Christmas,” we would not need to be financially strained during the holidays.  We can’t outgive the Lord because He has already given us the best gift we can ever receive; something we just need to take—Jesus Christ. Jesus is truly the reason for the season and we need to be reminded as such year after year.

Merry Christmas to all!

“The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”
—Matthew 1:23, NIV

Do you start hearing familiar tunes more and more of late? Yup, those timeless Christmas tunes are back on the airwaves and, despite how many times I have heard them, I still love listening to them. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but I still love these times as much as I did when I was a young boy eons ago.

Not everyone, however, is as cheerful as I am during these times. I was having coffee with my friend when a nice Christmas tune was played, and it made me smile. But hearing the tune had an adverse effect on my friend. Instead of enjoying, he said that whenever he hears Christmas songs, he associates them with a lot of expenses. What made me smile made him frown.

Come to think of it, many adults are not too thrilled of the holidays because of too much expenses that go with it.

Why is this so? When December steps in, many of us suddenly realize that Christmas is approaching and, almost instinctively, start to be on a buying mode and, for some, begin using their credit cards more than they used to. Somehow, the environment begins to be conducive for everyone to buy gifts, and that’s where the madness sets it. Just as Christmas bonuses are released, they get expended faster than a speeding bullet, so to speak.

Here’s my take: CHRISTMAS IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!

Why do most of us feel down during the most joyful time of the year? It’s because Christmas is a very expensive period and, deep inside us, we know that many of our expenses are not really necessary. We don’t feel any post-tuition regrets after we’ve settled our educational expenses, but many of us feel post-Christmas shopping regrets after the realization of spending too much sinks in.

Christmas expenses are not necessary, and yet, nearly every one of us is guilty of overspending year after year. We have let the pressures of society dictate over common sense. We feel that gifts and festivities are obligations, but they never really are.

If Christmas expenses are not an emergency, then what are they? They are just like any other expense that needs to be planned and budgeted. Proper and logical allocation for expenses should prevail over our mindless infatuation of wanting to conform to traditions and social pressures.

Christmas expenses are not bad, but when it starts to consume your budget, it becomes a big problem. We don’t need to equate giving gifts with how we value friends and family; we also shouldn’t equate the cost of our gifts with how much we value them. I always cringe at the idea of people buying really expensive gifts because they feel that it is a testament of how much they love or like the recipient of their gifts.

Let’s all be practical and responsible. Christmas is not an excuse to start spending our hard-earned money, and it is also not a signal for us to start being extravagant. I know people who would start buying expensive clothing during these times, saying, “OK lang, Pasko naman… minsan lang ’to.”

What does Christmas have to do with splurging? The sad thing here is that we are all aware of this madness, yet we feel powerless to prevent this from consuming us. Is that the real spirit of Christmas? Why is Christmas an excuse to buy an expensive branded jeans like Zara when one can get the same quality jeans with a local brand like Bobson?  A pair of Bobson jeans (or other local brands) will cost so much less than imported brands. Why pay more just because it is Christmas?

Why is there Christmas to begin with? Isn’t it because we want to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ? If we want to be true to the real spirit of Christmas, then let’s just be thankful that God already gave the best gift there can ever be, and all we need to do is take it. Romans 11:29 says, “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Why do we need to burden ourselves unnecessarily?

When I was a child, I have always loved the Christmas season like every other child. I have often looked forward to the season with joy, excitement and much anticipation.

I have to admit that I still have the childish feeling when it’s the Christmas season and, as a father, I love seeing my children enjoy the same excitement I had decades ago. Buying our daughters a doll house, and my sons their action figures. Reunions and all those wonderful Christmas experiences are memorable moments forever etched in my heart.

While I still have those youthful warm feelings about the Christmas season, there is one thing that us adults always have to contend with: Christmas spending.

After all the Christmas festivities have winded down, have you ever found yourself hoping that you did not have to spend as much as you did? Have you ever vowed that you’ll never spend as much again, yet you find yourself spending more again the following Christmas?

If you do, welcome to the club! But don’t despair because if you really want to curb your Christmas spending, here are some easy tips:

§          Make a priority list. Determine who should be an absolute “must” to receive a gift from you. You can set an order of priority, like spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc. While you may want to be a generous giver, you are not the fictional Santa Claus. Your boss or your officemates will not take it against you if you only give them a simple Christmas card this year, or better yet a sincere greeting. If a friend of yours will feel bad that you don’t have a gift for him/her, he/she may not be such a good friend after all, right?
§          Set a budget. I know this is not easy, but it is best that you have a budget for your Christmas spending. Determine the amount you are able to set aside and make sure that this budget will not eat up on your mandatory expenses, like rent, food and utilities. It really doesn’t make sense that you give Christmas expenses a priority over your necessary expenses. After determining your budget, you may now allocate them according to your priority list.

§          Be creative. Most people will always equate a good gift with an expensive gift. Year after year, well-meaning friends will churn out really expensive gifts which I really appreciate, but can’t reciprocate. Sometimes, I’d like to tell them that the gesture is more important than the gift. I will have the same appreciation if they gave me a card or an uber-expensive Christmas basket. It may be cliché but it’s really the thought that counts. I have a good friend who gives me the best Christmas gift year after year—an offer of prayer.

§          Never buy your gifts on credit. Don’t use your credit card, don’t buy something on “gives” and don’t use deferred payments. Buying gifts to please others and yet bury yourself into consumer debt is one of the most unwise things you can ever do. If I go home with a nice expensive gift for my wife and yet I purchased it through credit, she will definitely have an issue with it and it will really spoil the gesture. Give what you can afford, if you can’t afford it, don’t give it. I’ve always subscribed to the saying that “you can’t give what you don’t have.” Buying gifts on credit is the same banana.

My biggest advice to the readers is to remember what Christmas is all about. There was once a wonderful commercial on television where they started the ad with the photo of Santa Claus. There was an eraser and pencil that changed the photo of the jolly old Santa to the picture of the real reason for the season, Jesus Christ.

We should start thinking less of the ho ho ho’s and more of the hallelujahs! Christmas has been replaced with rabid commercialism, which has engulfed all of us. I don’t think that was what the Lord expects from us.

While there is nothing wrong with sharing the spirit of Christmas by merry-making and gift-giving, let us always remember that we can’t let social pressures affect proper personal finance management or our faith. Besides, we are already recipients of the best gift we can ever have and the Bible made it clear in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”