There are so many things to be grateful for in this life. As we go into the holiday season, in this article we will discuss about how gratitude impacts our finances.
Luxury vs Necessity
If you do think about the life we live today, and compare our life against what our ancestors lived, we do see that we have come a long way from the era of world hunger and scuffles for basic necessities in many areas of the globe. While there are still are several millions of people who still struggle to get necessities like food, clothing and shelter, there is a lot of reason to be thankful for small things in our life which are necessities masquerading as luxuries. Try reflecting on what’s most important to you and building a budget based on those values. You might realize what is truly important to you. You can check out this webinar on Budget Hacks that could help you better prioritize your budget this spending, especially as you create your gift list this holiday season.
Gifts & Finances
As the gifting period of the year is here, we might be tempted to send gifts to our near and dear ones. While the expression of love is important, you also need to factor the financial stress that may be going through at this point, and this is when making a budget and planning for it in advance comes to help.
We discussed how mindfulness can help you manage financial stress and make better money decisions in our Conscious Consumerism webinar and the blog article on Focus Your Spending with Lists. There is also research that suggests that people appreciate experiences more than tangible gifts (Forbes) so you may think about dedicating your time instead of your finances to loved ones to save money and give them memories that they'll cherish for years to come.
Wellness
Financial wellness is a dimension that can directly impact any other area of wellness simply because the more money you have, often the more choices you must reach your goals. If you're stressed about finances or covering your basic needs, it might be difficult to focus on feeling grateful or make decisions on how to best accomplish a goal or work towards an area of wellness. You can learn more about the dimensions of wellness and how to set SMART goals for your well-being in our blog article, Setting Goals for Your Well-being.
I wish you a Very Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh, if you want to make travel plans and are focusing on saving, you may consider the following tools to help guide you:
