Stress Reduction for the Holidays

Written By: Keith Duplessie, CD-SV, WC, RIT

This article is a contribution on behalf of the IDA Health & Wellness Taskforce. 

The holidays can be a joyous time of family, celebration, and reflection; but also a time of great stress, often filled with feelings of overwhelming obligations. Obsessing over getting the right gifts, making sure you didn’t forget anyone, trying to make it to all the parties, and having the perfect gathering at your place can be a lot to handle. Add the stress of family obligations, and things can get overwhelming. Many have a love/hate relationship with the holidays — loving the family-oriented aspects and hating the stress that can come with shopping and to-do lists that are a mile long. Here are some tips to help you have a stress-free holiday season this year.

Tip No. 1: Recognize the Insanity

As a society, we have super-sized the holidays and not in a good way. A recent Gallup poll shows the average American expects to spend just over $900 this year on holiday gift-giving. What these polls don't show, however, is the aftermath of that kind of spending. It stresses people out, especially when bills start rolling in. Not to mention the emotional stress that can come from trying to keep up with it all. Simply recognizing this can help distance you from the chaos.

Tip No. 2: Be Grateful

Remind yourself that the whole point of the holiday season is to be grateful for what you have in your life. Here's a stress-busting exercise. Sit down and ask yourself what truly makes you happy. If you are honest with yourself, many things on your list will be low-cost small joys: hanging out with your spouse, your kids, your friends, etc. Baking holiday cookies or driving around and looking at pretty holiday decorations might also make your list. Focus on these moments rather than the expensive gifts.

Tip No. 3: Set a Spending Strategy

Create a holiday spending strategy. Decide if you want to go "narrow and deep," getting whiz-bang gifts for a handful of people, or "wide and shallow," distributing small gifts to many people. The one thing you want to avoid — unless money is no object — is getting "deep and wide." Lots of expensive gifts for many people are the ultimate recipe for financial disaster.

Tip No. 4: Use Credit Wisely

Strive to use your credit cards only for items you can pay off in full when the bill comes. If you make only the minimum monthly payment on an average credit card with a mid-teens interest rate, you are effectively doubling the pricing of anything you buy. Buying a gift for someone on a credit card you can't afford to pay off will hurt you in the long run, and that's not worth it. Also, be very careful about offers to get 10% off with a purchase. It hurts your credit score to open up multiple credit cards at once. On top of this, store cards often have such high-interest rates that they will offset the 10% saved. The only way these cards are a good deal is if you are 100% committed to paying off that bill on time and in full every single month.

Tip No. 5: Get Creative with Gifts

Gift giving is not about the amount of money spent. There are many ways to be creative and stick to your budget. For instance, a great gift may be putting $100 away every holiday time in a college fund for each of your children. You may also want to make your gifts this year and give your loved ones a memorable and not necessarily costly holiday gift. It's time to get those creative juices flowing! This will help prevent you from blowing your budget to get those fancy gifts.

*The IDA is not a provider of financial or legal services, and the information provided herein does not constitute financial or legal advice. If you need additional information, please talk to a professional provider of financial and/or legal services.