Seasons Greetings From The Debt Destroyer!

Posted by Debt Destroyer on December 24, 2008

Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noel
Feliz Navidad
Mele Kalikimaka

These are the ways I know how to say Merry Christmas (My wife threw in the French one).

But lets not forget:

Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Happy Boxing Day

Happy Holidays!

Whatever you are celebrating this time of year, I hope you can make it special.

In my last post I mentioned that I’m not looking forward to the BIG Christmas Dinner with my extended family. Well, I need to get over myself.

This past weekend was spent with my wife’s parents. They originally were only going to make it a day trip, but then got stranded here for the whole weekend due to the weather. At first I was disappointed in this because it was going to mess up our plans. Not only that but…

They’d eat & drink everything we had (they did)
Their dogs would poop & pee all over my yard (they did)
They’d fill every square inch of our house with their stuff (they did)

But in the end, none of that mattered.

We had a great time with them. OK, “great” is stretching it, but lets say it was an enjoyable time.

In fact, after we had so much fun with my wife’s family, I’m actually looking forward to spending some time with my side (key word is “some”). And while every holiday spent with family and friends is meaningful, I think this year with the economy taking a beating, it will be even more meaningful.

The fact that a lot of us are broke this year will help us understand that the holidays aren’t about finding that perfect present.

In my Black Friday post I included a video that brought up how Christmas has turned into a big commercial mess. I wish I could say that I don’t fall into that mindset but I do. While we spent less this year than we have in years past, we still spent more than we should’ve on a stuff that will be forgotten as soon as it is opened.

I think next year I’ll utilize sites like: www.redefine-christmas.org or www.charitygiftcertificates.org for the people who I can’t think of a unique and meaningful gift. I think they’d appreciate that more than just some random gift that they have to pretend to like.

Using Redefine Christmas, I just bought my little sister a last second $10 donation to “Root of Peace”. She’s a hippy going into agriculture so hopefully she’ll enjoy it.

This year though I’m going to try to make the best of whatever situation I’m in. Whether it’s my Mom complaining about everything or my Aunt Ginny passing gas and blaming it in on the dog.

Whatever comes up I’m going to make it special.

Happy Holidays,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Holiday Wishes

Christmas Came Early for the Debt Destroyer Household

Posted by Debt Destroyer on December 21, 2008

Did you have a merry Christmas? What, it’s not Christmas yet?

Whoops my bad.

You see we’ve already been given so much that I got confused for a moment. In the course of a week we received a new couch ( a hand me down) and some insulated curtains.

curtains-sofa

The curtains were an early Christmas present from my wife’s parents and I have to say they are one of the best gifts we’ve ever received. Not only are they somewhat stylish (dark purple) but they do an excellent job of keeping the drafts to a minimum.

Since we’ve put them up we haven’t had to adjust out heat up once this year. And seeing how we’re in the middle of a long stretch of sub zero temps that is a pretty big deal.

You gotta love gifts that help save you money!

Our new couch is about 20 years old, but it was still an improvement over our last one. It’s a sectional, so it doesn’t quite fit our house as good as our couch and love seat did. But other than a little wasted space, I really like our new setup. Now I can actually stretch out when laying on the couch.

We’re not fans of the flowery print, but we learned a long time ago to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, thats why they make couch covers, right?

We donated our old couch and loveseat to the Salvation Army. So hopefully somebody finds good use for it (I hope they pay a pretty penny for it too).

In addition to all the great stuff we’ve been getting, it just feels like Christmas around here.

Which is odd, because normally it doesn’t feel like Christmas at the DD house until we watch some holiday movies(Christmas Vacation, It’s a Wonderful Life, Scrooged, Family Man, Die Hard).

But let me tell you, it doesn’t get much more Christmasy than last Saturday. The day started with my daughter’s preschool holiday concert. One word describes that…CUTE !!!

But that was only the beginning after that we…

Baked christmas cookies
Made a mixed CD of Christmas tunes (4th in a series I’m working on)
Drove around and looked at lights (while it was snowing)
Had hot chocolate (daughter’s first time as a “big girl”)
Watched “Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas” (rented from library)
Read Christmas stories before bedtime

I know next week I get to enjoy the real thing, but I don’t think it will measure up to last Saturday. But how could it? Eating ham with a bunch of old people just doesn’t scream Christmas to me. But it’s tradition, so we’ll smile and act like we’re having fun.

But the traditions that I want my family to have are listed above.

Well…There is one thing I want to do on Christmas that isn’t on the list. After we get back in town from having Lunch with my extended family I want to have dinner that night at a Chinese Restaurant ala The Christmas Story Family.

bowlingsmovie1

We don’t have anything as nice as the Chop Suey Palace in town, but there’s a nice buffet a few blocks away.

So how about you? Have you been feeling the Holiday Spirit this season? What gets you in the yuletide mood? Or would you rather just say “Ba Humbug” and be left alone?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Giving, Holiday Wishes

Merry Christmas With A Lesson From Ebenezer Scrooge

Posted by The Happy Rock on December 22, 2007

“A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit.” – Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

The Christmas Carol contains some deep messages that are worth visiting during this precious time of year.

Accept that we can not change the past, realize that the past doesn’t dictate our future, and strive to leave a legacy that brings joy to those that we come in contact with. Scrooge changed his scrooge like ways, so can we.

I am off to spend a wonderful few days with family celebrating Christ, exchanging gifts, and reflecting!

Merry Christmas!

If you are looking for some finance advice to hold you over, feel free to search the archives.

» Filed Under Holiday Wishes, Living with Purpose

Christmas, Debt, and Spending – Our Example

Posted by The Happy Rock on December 19, 2007

In the last post I asked some questions about the nature of Christmas spending and what we could do to change. I wanted to share some of the changes that my family has undergone in the last for years to fight the consumerism onslaught and then a few lessons learned.

The Happy Rockette’s Family

To set the stage, my wife is one a five sisters. Four of them are married, and we have 8 nieces and nephews(ages 1-6) between us. We do Christmas morning with at the Rockette’s parent’s house, and everyone was buying gifts for each other and the children. I remember walking into the gift room and not even being able to sit down, because of the huge collection of gifts. I think we spent well over a thousand dollars that year in gifts.

Things had to change. We started some conversations about doing a name exchange between the adults, and a year later we did it. There was a $50-75 range for each person, each person could get quality over quantity. The following year, the children still went home with a truckload of toys. This year, we also did a name exchange between the children with a $20 cap. We will see how it works out, but it is another step in the right direction.

The Happy Rock’s Family

For my side of the family, we also went through a similar progression. A few years back we moved from buying smaller gifts for everyone to a $50 name exchange. My Grandmother still buys for everyone, but I think that is just the way grandparent’s are! This year we are not actually giving gifts to one another, but we will pool our money together to buy an animal for a deserving family in need. Click here for the Hiefer Project catalog, if you want to learn more about what they do. I think it is a solid organization with a great philosophy.

In all, we have more than halved our Christmas expenses(and stress), and we feel more fulfilled.

Tips For Changing Christmas Spending.

Here are a couple of key observations that I gained while we changed our family traditions:

Changes, especially changes to deep rooted traditions take time. Focus on the direction of the ship more than the destination. Life is a journey.
Real people are involved. Sometimes relationships are messy. People can get frustrated, upset, and offended. We need to approach each other in love, courage, honesty, and patience. You may need to spill the beans about your debt struggles, or walk your family through the exact reasons you can’t do gifts. You may even need to reassure them that this doesn’t change how you feel about them. Those type of conversations will probably deepen the relationship more than gifts ever would.
People who naturally show love through gifts will be more affected than those like me who are on the cheap miser end of the spectrum and show love in other ways. This underscores again the need for patience and love.
Shifting your focus onto those that are more needy through donations of money or services can really help change perspectives. Activities like doing Angel Tree gifts as a family really bring people together.

That is how Christmas has been changing around here, what about you?

» Filed Under About Me, Giving, Holiday Wishes, Materialism

Can We Buy Meaning During The Holidays?

Posted by The Happy Rock on December 16, 2007

Consumers planned holiday-related spending increased to $923.36” in 2007. Gift card spending alone was 24 billion dollars last year while the national spending average rises about 4.76% year after year.

The money that gets tossed around on Christmas is staggering. Debt keeps us paying for Christmas well into the New Year. Gifts are often relegated to impersonal gift cards, because we don’t know what else to buy. We keep on buying though. Stress and frantic running are hallmarks of the season. Sometimes you can’t wait until it’s all over, so you can rest and recover.

I often wonder if we don’t spend ourselves into a frenzy to cover over our lack for the deeper things in life. Do we buy more to cover the lack of depth in our relationships with friends, children, and spouses? Do we spend enough time telling and showing people how valuable they are the rest of the year or are we trying to recover from a deficit with gifts? Maybe we don’t feel like the holidays have much meaning, so we buy to try to imbue the holidays with meaning through consumerism. I am not saying all or any of this is true, but I think it might be worth asking the questions.

Does it have to be this way? For those that want something more, what can we do?

Sources :

» Filed Under Holiday Wishes, Living with Purpose, Psychology of Debt, Psychology of Spending

Happy Fourth of July

Posted by The Happy Rock on July 3, 2007

On the fourth of July,
fireworks soar through the sky.
Families have fun,
we remember how our nation begun.

by Gabriella

Happy Fourth!

» Filed Under Holiday Wishes

Happy Memorial Day!

Posted by The Happy Rock on May 28, 2007

To those who served to protect our freedoms, The Happy Rock remembers you. I realize that without your sacrifice, my personal journey to freedom would not be the same.

In remembrance of those fallen in honorable duty to our country, I leave you with a website and a poem.

First, the website : http://www.remember.gov.

Second, the poem Freedom is Not Free by Kelly Strong.

» Filed Under Holiday Wishes