Summer has officially arrived! I hope everyone is having a wonderful year so far!

While Christmas is still far off, it’s also crazy that we’re now halfway through the year. How is that even possible?

During the summer, I start asking myself a vital question about the holiday season: “How can I better financially plan for Christmas this year?”

Have you ever felt financially stressed at Christmas? That’s because finances and spending money are a huge component of the Christmas season! It’s well known that a main component of the Christmas season is buying and giving gifts, something many of us enjoy every year—except when our finances aren’t where we want them to be.

And with all the gift-buying pressures, finances can be a huge source of stress!

Personally, it does touch my heart when someone takes the time to pick something special out just for me for Christmas. However, I’ve also experienced holiday seasons which left me feeling worn out, drained, and oh-so financially stressed by January 1st. And that’s not a good place to be.

Right now, you can get ahead of the curve and start taking the time to plan your finances, rethinking your usual approach to Christmas spending. And, if you’re going to incorporate these 3 mindful holiday spending practices into your Christmas season, it’s important that you start as early as possible… like today!

With the right approach and intentional planning, you can take the financial stress out of Christmas, freeing you up to focus on things that really matter.

Here are 3 financial practices to help you celebrate the Christmas season with mindfulness, intentionality, and care. And guess what … Christmas will be here before you know it! So, let’s start putting these practices in place today.

3 Mindful Spending Practices for a More Meaningful Christmas

1. Start Planning & Shopping for Gifts Early

It’s no secret that gift buying is often a source of stress during the holidays. Many of us get so stressed out trying to find the perfect gift. We mean well, and we want it to be just right. However, we risk losing our sanity during the holiday season. We sacrifice meaningful time with family and friends for time spent at malls or shopping online. But trust me—there’s a better way!

My number one advice for slowing down during the Christmas season is to buy all your gifts early. Like my Nana taught me, it’s okay to start buying Christmas gifts for next year any time after Dec. 25th!

For myself, my personal goal is to have all Christmas gifts purchased by December 1st, about 3-4 weeks before Christmas. Not only that, but I prefer to have them wrapped and labeled by that date too. You heard that right—bought, wrapped, and labeled by December 1st! And my SUPER goal is to have them done by November 1st, so I can just focus on enjoying the holiday season.

If you start your Christmas shopping in August or September (or even right now in the summertime!), you can relieve hours of stressful last-minute shopping that goes against Authentic Christmas living. You’ll be stunned at how freeing it feels to be done with all your Christmas shopping just when the season is getting in full swing.

Additionally, it’s very financially stressful to have to buy all of your presents at once. This can create a great and unnecessary financial burden that makes the Christmas season a source of extreme stress, worry, fear, and consumerism. This is not God’s best for this season.

That’s why shopping early is the best way. Not only will Christmas shopping earlier relieve stress, but it can also free up your mind and heart to focus on more important things, like church, Scripture, family time, and giving back to those in need. You’ll have time to go on walks, bake delicious treats, relax, slow down to spend time with the Lord, and sit by the fireplace for a peaceful, slow evening.

You’ll be stunned what an amazing benefit it is to shop early and get all your Christmas shopping done before the Christmas season is fully underway. Your heart will feel so much lighter. It’s an amazing feeling!

2. Start a Christmas Fund Today

I think just about all of us have been there at one time or another—that moment around January 2nd or 5th when you realize you went a little overboard with the Christmas shopping. Or maybe a lot overboard. And now you’re paying the price.

Not a great feeling.

That’s why it’s important to stay mindful of your finances before the holiday season begins. One of the best financial practices you can have is to contribute to a Christmas fund throughout the year. Whenever you have a spare $20 or $50 in March or July, you can simply throw it in the Christmas fund!

Financially preparing in advance throughout the year for the Christmas season is a great way to avoid the holiday mayhem. If any surprise parties pop up, or you need a few extra people to shop for, or you find yourself wanting to give more to important causes or charities during the holidays, you’ll actively avoid stress because you won’t be reaching at the bottom of the barrel (or beyond).

Creating a Christmas fund is a great way to set yourself up for success for a slow living Christmas. It helps you avoid stress and focus on what truly matters during the holiday season. Start your Christmas fund today!

3. Set Your Christmas Budget & Stick To It

I think just about all of us are guilty of gift comparisons. You look to see how much others have spent on Christmas presents and match it, even if you can’t afford it. The next thing you know, your gift exchange list has grown exponentially, new names have cropped up, and your bank account is emptying out in the name of Christmas.

Yikes!

But practicing an Authentic Christmas is about living a stress-free season. After a careful look at your budget, be sure to set a gift-giving limit for yourself and stick to it. If you have twelve people in your life you want to give presents to, do the math to see how much you can afford to spend on each person and stick to that number. Don’t waver from it, even if someone spends more on you.

Just because someone gives a more expensive present to you than you give to them doesn’t mean they care more or are a better friend. Christmas presents are about intentionality, respect, personality, and intimacy. They’re not about money or comparisons.

Pause to think back on your favorite Christmas presents from childhood. What were they? How did they make you feel? What about adulthood?

More than likely, the gift you received was due to the intentionality and heart of the giver, not the gift itself.

My point is that it’s truly the intentionality behind the gift that matters most. Rather than focusing on a dollar amount, put your heart into your gift giving and see where that takes you!

From Financially Stressed to Blessing Others at Christmas

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that the Christmas season is not about material gifts. It’s about God’s gift of His Son, Jesus, to us, celebrated on Christmas Day. It’s about God’s love shining through us—for our neighbor down the street we only bother waving at when we pass them in our neighborhood, for the elderly folks at the nursing home down the road who need some visits at Christmas, for our coworkers, our families, and the downtrodden. And that means…

Stewarding your finances well before Christmas can help you become a catalyst for love instead of a vessel for consumerism.

So many of us long to help others at Christmas. With the right financial planning, you can turn Christmas stress into Christmas blessings, turning your time, energy, and resources into giving back to those in need.

Employing these best financial practices for Christmas will help to prevent you from feeling financially stressed and overwhelmed during the holiday season. Instead, you can stay stress-free and intentional during a time of giving, charity, and compassion. You can support important causes, give meaningful gifts, and welcome New Year’s without an overspending hangover. And, when you’re not spending all your time shopping, you’ll suddenly have a lot more free time.

If you can’t financially give (or even if you can), you can always donate your time! From volunteering at a homeless shelter, animal shelter, your church, or for many other nonprofits, there are so many wonderful options and ways to give your time this Christmas. I have no doubt you are going to make an amazing difference!

Once you learn to shop early and buy gifts throughout the year, contribute to a Christmas fund, and stick to your Christmas budget, you’ll feel so much happier come Christmastime. Your heart will be free to focus on things outside of consumerism, gifts, and money. Your time will be available for others. You’ll be free to focus on family, charity, generosity, prayer, having fun, slowing down, and helping those in need.

What could be more authentically Christmas than that?