This week, I’m talking about cutting back on Christmas. Today, I’m talking about your why. Earlier this week, I discussed the fact that ⅔ of us have reached our breaking point with Christmas, with stress and financial strain of Christmas being the chief culprits. It’s so bad in fact, that 45% of us would prefer to just skip Christmas all together. 

So if that’s you and you want to cut back on Christmas, it’s important to start with why. Why do you want to cut back on Christmas? How will this time of year be more joyful and less stressful if you cut back on Christmas. I’ll share specific ideas for ways to cut back later this week, but first we gotta get to the bottom of how your life will improve if you cut back.

So I want you to fill in the rest of this sentence: “I want to cut back on Christmas because…”

Personally, I want to cut back on Christmas because I want my kids to grow up learning that Christmas is about the miracle of the Christ child JEsus coming into this world, rather than thinking that Christmas is all about Santa and presents. 

I want to cut back on Christmas to avoid the strong temptation of materialism and overconsuming this time of year. 

I want to cut back on Christmas so I can spend more quality time at home with my family, rather than shopping or cramming too many activities into the month of December.

I want to cut back on Christmas (presents especially) so Christmas morning is calm and actually fun. 

I want to cut back Christmas so we can give more to help others in our community have a meaningful Christmas. 

I didn’t have to think for more than about 10 seconds on each one of those answers and I suspect that you have a few reasons why you may want to cut back on Christmas - especially if you’re typically stressed and grinchy this time of year. 

So what is your why? If you still need some help here are some common whys: 

• Reduce stress
• Have more time for what matters most
• Save money
• Give more 
• Reduce debt

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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