I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and got a chance to relax before the hustle and bustle of Christmas begins. We experienced our first big winter storm of the season in Southern California this week. We truly needed the rain so it was most welcome, although the gloomy days are always hard to adjust to when you’re used to blue skies and sunshine. And yes, rain equates winter here in LA. 🙂
On Monday, I shared 5 Teachable Moments for Kids this Holiday Season. The holidays are certainly one of the busiest times of the year for most families and they offer many teachable moments for kids (and adults too). Be sure you devote as much attention to imparting these magical lessons to your kids as you do to finding the perfect gift for them.
On Wednesday, Tanya highlighted 20 Fun and Frugal Holiday Traditions. I loved the list and we do many of the things she suggested, except building snowmen. 🙂 Perhaps when we go skiing later this winter, we’ll have to hold a snowman competition! The list has lots of great ideas and many are low cost or free. Traditions don’t need to cost much, but they are what make the season magical.
Special thanks to Financially Blonde, The Finance Girl and Young Adult Money for sharing posts from The Heavy Purse. I appreciate the support!
These are my favorite posts from the past week. Enjoy!
Kim at Eyes on the Dollar talked about the dangers of a Buy Now, Pay Later mentality many of us have adopted. Those plans entice us with their low payments, but as Kim discovered, they add up quickly. And even worse, they eventually rob you of the freedom to choose how to spend your money.
Natalie aka The Finance Girl had an excellent post, Chocolate and J. Crew: The Moment I Stopped Struggling With Money that can really help those who need to curb their spending. “By trying to earn more money so I could shop, it was effectively like me eating a bag of Reese’s cups and trying to figure out how much I needed to run to burn it off.” If you’re guilty of doing this (and lots of people are, so don’t be ashamed), you must read Natalie’s post.
Travis at Enemy of Debt shared his thoughts on Instant Gratification: Here, There and Everywhere. We are more impatient than ever these days and even worse, we have also lost the joy of anticipation with our ability to gratifying most needs immediately. A must read, especially with Christmas fast approaching.
Michelle from Shop My Closet Project shared The Three Things That I Did This Year That Changed My Life with us. Michelle offered some great advice for those who need/want to shake up their lives so they can live their best life.
Brian over at Luke 1428 is not buying his kids Christmas gifts this year. Don’t worry, they are not on the naughty list and are going on a family vacation in lieu of gifts. I love this idea! We so often confuse presents as the must-have of the holiday season, but ultimately it’s the memories and traditions that matter.
Well, that’s a wrap! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
The Heavy Purse Store is now open! My new downloadable Money Club Workbooks are now on sale. Each workbook provides five targeted lessons to help you raise Financially Confident Kids. Please check them out in The Heavy Purse Store.
SHANNON RYAN, CFP®
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