After one horrible Christmas when she maxed out every one of her vast assortment of credit cards, Mary Hunt learned an important lesson: “Stuff quickly fades, but debt goes on and on.” Statistics show she’s not the only one who’s faced a major letdown in January when the Christmas credit card bills arrived.
And that’s why she’s written Debt-Proof Your Christmas: Celebrating the Holidays without Breaking the Bank. In this very practical book, Mary shows how to get rid of the three grinches
- consumerism
- overindulgence
- overdoing.
While your celebration of a debt-free Christmas depends mainly on your attitude, it’s also crucial to plan, find the cash, and give yourself plenty of time. There are many ways to give gifts, but to avoid over-spending you’ll need to find bargains or make, assemble, or grow your own gifts. Mary also discusses gift wrap, decorating the house, traditions, entertaining, and family fun.
Our family tries to avoid excess during the Christmas season, because to us Christmas is primarily about the birth of our dear Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Even so, we love to give gifts. I was thrilled to learn about all the different on-line buying opportunities, gifts from the kitchen and garden, and creative family gifts.
By reminding us to thoughtfully plan our celebration of Christmas, Mary helps us avoid exhaustion and stress as well as debt.
If the thought of the Christmas season throws you into a tizzy or if you routinely spend too much, Debt-Proof Your Christmas will be a blessing to you.
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This is yet another book in the in the 2012 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, and is also linked to Saturday Reviews, Better Mom Monday, Encourage One Another Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Works For Me Wednesday , Wisdom Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, and Frugal Friday.
Disclosure: This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and is available at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
This sounds like a great book! Thank you for sharing it! Christmas is definitely not all about gifts, and definitely about giving vs. receiving! We’re neighbors today at We are THAT family 🙂 Blessings! simplyhelpinghim.com
You’re welcome, Misty! And thanks for being neighborly. 🙂
Absolutely! 🙂 Thanks for linking up too! 🙂
It seems to me that we would automatically stay within our budget. After all, Christmas is about focus on the Christ child and his coming to save us. But, alas, we are all fallen creatures. It sounds like a very practical book!
Sending hugs your way, Annie Kate!
Warmly,
Jacqueline
My husband’s and my Christmas gift to each other and our children this year is to become debt free (except for our house). We once were young and foolish and did not handle money well. It’s so true that debt goes on and on, and there was really nothing to show for it. We’ve been working at it since about April of 2014, and are hoping, Lord willing, to get there this week Friday. We plan to have a small gift for each of our children, and that will be all this year. But we will be debt free!
Congratulations, Nelleke! That will be a wonderful thing for you, and it must have meant a lot of hard work. May God bless your spending and saving and all your financial decisions!
I keep telling my kids to stay on the right side of the money equation (i.e. saving vs owing). Today one of them, using a bit of extra money he’d worked hard to save and a lot of patience, made a 50% gain on the stock market, a learning experience for someone studying finance, and also an example to the rest that if you have some money you can invest it to make some more rather than just owing and paying interest.
Not that I would invest in stocks, but if you know what you are doing, it can be a good way of saving up for a car or whatever.