December 9, 2025 • 15 mins
Feeling the financial pressure of Christmas? Between gifts, travel, and family events, most men overspend and pay the price in January. In this episode, Don shares practical ways to avoid Christmas debt, reduce money stress, and still create a meaningful, joyful holiday for your family.
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Question for You
What’s one money move that’s helped you stick to a budget at Christmas? Drop your answer below — your insight could help another man find some peace this year.
⏰ TIMECODES
00:00 Introduction: The Financial Stress of Christmas
03:39 Personal Stories: Christmas Spending Mistakes
06:26 Tips for a Financially Stress-Free Christmas
06:35 Setting Priorities and Budgeting
10:42 The Importance of Generosity
12:26 Conclusion: A Joyful and Debt-Free Christmas
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#ManhoodTribes #MensGrowth #ChristmasBudget #DebtFreeChristmas #HolidayStress
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Don Ross (00:00):
It is Christmas time men and tis the season for peace
and joy.
At least for some of us it isbecause for a lot of us, uh,
it's actually the season offinancial stress between the
pressure to buy gifts, hostmeals, cover travel expenses,
and do all the things to makefor a joyful Christmas, we
(00:23):
actually end up stressingourselves out, worrying about
how much we're spending and whatJanuary is gonna look like when
we have to deal with the debt.
Of Christmas.
What if we could approachChristmas differently so that we
do it with clarity andconfidence around our finances
and without any kind ofresentment or guilt as we move
(00:44):
into the new year?
I think that would actuallybring us the kind of peace that
we're hoping for in the season.
So let's talk about that todayhere on the Manhood Tribe Show.
My name is Dawn.
I'm your host here at ManhoodTribes, and I'm really glad to
be with you guys during thisChristmas time season.
Uh, this is one of my justfavorite times of the year.
I really do love everythingabout Christmas.
(01:05):
I look forward to it.
I am one of those guys who says,uh, Christmas doesn't need to
start until after Thanksgiving.
Thank you very much.
Like.
Please hold off on the music andthe decorations, but I'm not
really a scrooge about that.
I just know that if I can makemyself wait a little bit longer,
then I will actually be able toenjoy all of that stuff once it
does arrive, and I won't feelburnt out on it by the time that
(01:27):
Christmas actually gets here.
I know some people love to putup the decorations like as soon
as Halloween is done, orsometimes even sooner than that.
But for me that just, that justspoils it.
That spoils the actual day andtakes away from the meaning of
what Christmas should be about.
So I want to wait.
But another thing that I knowcan really take away the meaning
of Christmas is how much of afinancial stress Christmas can
(01:51):
really be for us as men,especially because more often
than not, we men are theproviders in our homes who.
We're the ones who are managingthe budgets.
We're paying attention to thefinances, and we know what all
of that gift giving and familyhosting and travel expenses and
all of those things added up isactually going to do to our
(02:11):
budget.
And the credit card bill justkeeps getting higher and higher
and the looming debt and thelooming pain of the.
Winter months that come afterChristmas is gonna feel even
more intense.
There's nothing fun or joyfulabout that, and yet that can
kind of be what our culturepressures us into.
We think that we need to doChristmas bigger and better
(02:34):
every year, and we think we needto get our wives and our.
Kids and our girlfriends, youknow, something extra special
and, and that means that we needto spend a lot of money on it in
order for that to be the thingthat makes it work.
Or we feel pressure fromextended family members to have
to come be with them, to travelnear them, to, you know, afford
a hotel room and a rental carand a whatever else to be able
(02:57):
to, you know, make the trip workthat we can spend time with our
family around the holidays.
All of those things can begreat, but they also can just be
really crushing.
They can leave us feeling like,was all of that money actually
worth it?
Did I actually enjoy and getanything out of this Christmas
season other than stress anddebt?
That's not what any of us wantfrom Christmas.
(03:19):
So how can we think about how todo it all differently so that we
can arrive in January in the newyear with a season with a season
of peace that actually followsthe piece of Christmas?
How can we maintain that alongwith us, especially as it
relates to our finances?
I'll tell you a story.
(03:40):
Uh, I'll tell you a couplestories actually of some ways
that I've done it not so well,and then actually a way that we
did it well.
So early on in our marriage, mywife and I, uh, we weren't
making a lot of money, but wewanted to be able to enjoy
Christmas.
And so we actually like probablyspent more than we should.
We sort of set a budget limit,but you know, I think both of us
(04:00):
sort of felt the desire to justkind of not worry about that too
much.
And so we bought more than weshould and we put it on the
credit card.
And, uh, it was fun.
Like we enjoyed, you know, thepresents that we got on
Christmas and it was nice tojust kind of feel the, the
freedom and the flexibility ofgetting some nice things for
each other without having toworry about the money.
'cause we felt like we kinda hadto worry about money all year
(04:22):
long and it was nice to justkind of like take the pressure
off for a little bit.
But then come January, you know,we had a bill, credit card bill,
and it took us several monthsactually to pay off that credit
card bill.
It was probably April, maybeeven May, before we finally had
it completely paid off from whatwe had put it put on it.
During Christmas, and I'll behonest, by the time we had the
(04:43):
thing paid off, I couldn't evenremember what we got each other
for Christmas.
I mean, it was really kind oflike, okay, this was too much.
Like we enjoyed the moment ofthe gift giving, but then it
brought us a lot of pain afterthat and it just wasn't worth it
because the gifts weren't allthat significant.
They weren't the kinds of thingsthat lasted and that we were
(05:03):
remembered forever.
They were just sort of like.
Temporary joys.
And in that temporary joy webrought ourselves a lot more
long-term pain and frustrationand that wasn't good.
We had to cut back on otherthings during those months while
we were paying off the creditcard bill.
And that was more stressful thanwas worth the brief joy that we
got out of Gift Giving onChristmas.
(05:24):
Now, fast forward a few yearsand we got a little better at
that.
We figured out how to actually.
Not just set a budget limit forourselves, but actually to like
try to build gifts that were notjust about spending money.
So we kind of talked about likehow could we create experiences
for each other, even if theywere cheap experiences, but that
(05:46):
things, things that weremeaningful for each other that
we actually would enjoy doing.
And so we created some likespecial occasions for each other
that were built around thingsthat we each loved and that we
each enjoyed.
And that actually was way morefun, not only to like.
Enjoy the gift when it finallydid happen, but to actually
craft it, to put it together, tothink about, oh, what's my wife
(06:07):
really gonna like here?
And doing that kind of budgetedgift giving actually made it
more fun and more enjoyable tofigure out what we had come up
for each other.
Now, those are the kinds ofthings that I want you to think
about as you think about how toset a realistic budget for
yourselves for Christmas.
So as you're doing this, here's,here's a few things that I want
(06:28):
to kind of give you some tips onto think about.
How do you think about yourfinances around Christmas time?
So the first is to really startwith your priorities.
Okay?
Now, you as an individual or youas a couple, or you as a family,
your priorities might bedifferent than other people's
priorities, and that's reallyokay.
Where it gets hard is when yourpriorities might be different
(06:51):
from each other's priorities,and so that's where you really
have to kind of talk it throughand figure out what's the best
way to be able to preserve joyand peace throughout the season.
And especially how to do that asit relates to your finances.
Maybe she wants more of a giftand you want more of an
experience.
Or maybe she values spending alittle more at Christmas because
(07:15):
she's not as concerned about,you know, what the budget looks
like and you value beingconservative because you don't
want to deal with the creditcard debt.
Okay?
So you've gotta talk thosethings through and figure out
how you can both get on the samepage in a way that honors each
other.
You also have to do the samething with your kids in mind.
I know that, uh, my wife and Ican really fall guilty to like,
(07:36):
okay, maybe we won't spend asmuch money on each other, but
we're gonna spend a lot of moneyon the kids this year because
we've got some really excitingthings that we want to get them.
Or they have some big ticketitems that they really want.
And the joy of giving your kidsfun gifts, uh, can be really
great at Christmas.
You know, they tend to be morefull of wonder and excitement
about gifts on Christmas thanadults do.
And so, uh, it can be really funto actually kind of go overboard
(07:59):
on them a little.
Bit, but then you not only likeleave each other out of the
picture to some extent, but youstill also end up with all of
that debt that are probably onthings that your kids are also
gonna forget in a very shortamount of time.
So get everybody on the samepage.
Start with your priorities.
Figure out what those thingsare.
Maybe it's gifts, maybe it'sexperiences, maybe it's travel
(08:23):
and being with family, and youwanna make sure that you
prioritize that.
Even over gifts.
All of that's okay.
Just figure out what works foryou and how to be able to do it.
Well, the next thing that youneed to do is actually start
with a limit.
And how you figure out the limitcan really be up to how you
handle budgeting in your family.
Maybe you've got some moneyalready saved up and you're just
(08:44):
gonna use that money forChristmas gifts, and so you're
doing it that way.
Maybe you've racked up somecredit card points over the
course of the year and you'regonna just use those to be able
to buy a Christmas gifts.
Or you've got a little bit ofmoney and some, you know, bonus
points to be able to use.
Maybe you know that you're gonnadip into savings for a little
bit for Christmas, but you'regonna be able to replenish that
(09:04):
savings within, you know, Xamount of time in the new year.
And so it's okay to be able todo that.
All of that is fine.
What I would not encourage youto do is to go into any kind of
debt because of Christmas gifts.
It just isn't worth it.
You're gonna give yourselvesmore pain.
And pain actually takes away thejoy and the peace that you're
trying to bring with the giftgiving in the first place.
(09:25):
So do everything you can toavoid extra debt at Christmas
and just let what you can affordbe the kinds of things that
bring you joy and that bringyour family members joy as well.
Decide what your budget is goingto be and stick to it because
you've thought it throughtogether.
Now you need to think about allthe things together, gifts.
(09:45):
Parties, travel, all of thosekinds of, you know, things that
you're doing for Christmas needto be factored into the whole
picture, or otherwise, yourbudget can blow up pretty,
pretty quick.
Maybe you've thought aboutgifts, but you haven't really
factored in the cost of, ohgosh, now we gotta buy four
plane tickets to fly everybodyout to see grandma.
You know, or whatever it is.
And that wasn't really factoredinto the budget all of a sudden.
(10:08):
Things get really hard becauseyou left that part out of the
picture, so just make sure thatyou include all of that, and if
it means that you need to cutback on one thing in order to be
able to afford the other thing,that's okay.
It's even okay to disappointsome extended family members.
If your budget just doesn'tallow you to do what your
extended family would like youto do this year.
(10:28):
You just have to have thecourage to be able to tell them,
Hey.
We love you guys.
We want to be able to see you.
We won't be able to do it thisyear at Christmas.
Let's make a plan for when wecan do it next, but we just
don't have the resources to beable to pull that off this year.
One more thing that you alsoprobably want to factor into
your budget is just generosity.
The experience of Christmas isall about loving and caring for
(10:53):
others, and so figuring out howyou incorporate that into your
Christmas season and yourChristmas budget is really
important.
Maybe you have.
Some money that you wanna setaside to give a little extra to
your church during this season.
Or maybe you want to visit anonprofit or a food bank or a
homeless shelter or somethinglike that during this season and
(11:13):
be able to chip in andcontribute a little extra there.
Maybe you've got some otherproject that your kids are
involved in through theirschool, and you want to be able
to help out with that.
Maybe you just want to createsome kind of thing to do that
you can get your family involvedin and help remind them that.
Christmas isn't just aboutmaterialism.
It's actually about loving andcaring for others, and there's
(11:34):
ways to do that that aren't justabout buying each other
expensive gifts that we need tocare for others who maybe can't
afford any kind of gifts at all,but we can do something really
special and unique for them.
If you don't have any ideas onhow to do that, reach out to a
local church near you, even ifyou're not a church goer
yourself.
Most churches do communityoriented things around
(11:55):
Christmas, like, uh, gift drivesor toy drives or feeding, uh,
people or any kind of, somechurches do like.
Dinners for the homeless orclothing drives, or all kinds of
just ways of being able to helpout the community during the
Christmas season.
So reach out to a local churchand just find out what are they
doing and can you get involvedand help.
(12:15):
You don't have to start going tothat church, but you might
actually find that some of thethings that they're doing allow
you to be generous in ways thatyou wouldn't normally be
otherwise, and that can be agreat thing to do at Christmas.
Now look, all of the stuff thatwe're talking about, budgeting,
gift giving, uh, planning,financially, thinking about how
to be generous, all of thosethings are really just skills.
(12:36):
Skills is one of the things thatwe talk about here at Manhood
Tribes a lot.
It's one of our.
Five marks of manhood andlearning to grow in the area of
skill is a great way to be ableto level up your ability of what
it means to be a man.
The way that you can figure thatout is actually through a free
quiz that I've created calledHow Manly Are You?
And it's a perfect way to seehow you measure up in terms of
(12:59):
the five marks of manhood andwhat you need to do to be able
to get.
Better at being a man.
So if you go to manhoodtribes.com/manly, you can
download that free quiz rightthere and learn how you can
improve not only in skill, butin all the five marks of manhood
as well.
Okay.
Now as you're thinking aboutwhat Christmas is gonna look
like, when you have been able tomaintain a budget, hit the
(13:22):
priorities that you wanted tohit, have some generosity built
in along the way, and arrive atJanuary with some peace, I want
you to imagine what that pictureis gonna look like.
I want you to imagine Christmasmorning.
The joy that everyone isexperiencing as their opening
gifts, learning of the thingsthat they got, that they're
(13:43):
gonna get to do with you andwith each other, uh, through the
experiences that you've created,the fun that everybody's gonna
have, getting together withextended family and that nothing
hanging over you has anything todo with finances.
You're not worried about thefact that maybe you spent too
much, you aren't dreading thecredit card payment that's gonna
come up in January.
(14:04):
You're not thinking about whereyou're gonna have to cut corners
with your budget.
You're able to carry over thepeace and the joy of Christmas
into the new year because youare free in terms of how you
have handled your finances.
And as a man, instead ofresenting what you or your wife
or girlfriends spent, youactually can feel proud of
(14:28):
yourself as a man for how youled your family well, to be able
to manage your shared resourcesthis Christmas season.
Christmas becomes about presenceit becomes about connection, it
becomes about generosity, andall of those things are possible
because you didn't make it aboutdebt and regret by spending too
(14:48):
much money.
That's the kind of Christmasexperience that you're looking
for.
That's the kind of new year thatyou want to head into, and all
of that is possible if you'lljust make a simple plan devoted
to your priorities and reallytry to stick to it together as a
couple or as a family this yearat Christmas.
Now guys, I hope that this hasbeen really helpful for you and
has given you some good insightsin terms of how to think about
(15:09):
what to do this year atChristmas with regards to your
finances.
I would love for you to put acomment down in the comment
section below where you justsay, what's one money move that
you've made that has helped youstick to a budget at Christmas?
Maybe your comment can help outanother guy who's feeling a
little stuck or a little anxiousabout how he's handling his own
money, and that can be the waythat helps him find some freedom
(15:31):
this year at Christmas.
Okay.
I hope that's helpful and I lookforward to seeing you again next
time.
Right here on the Manhood TribeShow.
We'll talk again soon.
It is Christmas time men and tis the season for peace
and joy.
At least for some of us it isbecause for a lot of us, uh,
it's actually the season offinancial stress between the
pressure to buy gifts, hostmeals, cover travel expenses,
and do all the things to makefor a joyful Christmas, we
(00:23):
actually end up stressingourselves out, worrying about
how much we're spending and whatJanuary is gonna look like when
we have to deal with the debt.
Of Christmas.
What if we could approachChristmas differently so that we
do it with clarity andconfidence around our finances
and without any kind ofresentment or guilt as we move
(00:44):
into the new year?
I think that would actuallybring us the kind of peace that
we're hoping for in the season.
So let's talk about that todayhere on the Manhood Tribe Show.
My name is Dawn.
I'm your host here at ManhoodTribes, and I'm really glad to
be with you guys during thisChristmas time season.
Uh, this is one of my justfavorite times of the year.
I really do love everythingabout Christmas.
(01:05):
I look forward to it.
I am one of those guys who says,uh, Christmas doesn't need to
start until after Thanksgiving.
Thank you very much.
Like.
Please hold off on the music andthe decorations, but I'm not
really a scrooge about that.
I just know that if I can makemyself wait a little bit longer,
then I will actually be able toenjoy all of that stuff once it
does arrive, and I won't feelburnt out on it by the time that
(01:27):
Christmas actually gets here.
I know some people love to putup the decorations like as soon
as Halloween is done, orsometimes even sooner than that.
But for me that just, that justspoils it.
That spoils the actual day andtakes away from the meaning of
what Christmas should be about.
So I want to wait.
But another thing that I knowcan really take away the meaning
of Christmas is how much of afinancial stress Christmas can
(01:51):
really be for us as men,especially because more often
than not, we men are theproviders in our homes who.
We're the ones who are managingthe budgets.
We're paying attention to thefinances, and we know what all
of that gift giving and familyhosting and travel expenses and
all of those things added up isactually going to do to our
(02:11):
budget.
And the credit card bill justkeeps getting higher and higher
and the looming debt and thelooming pain of the.
Winter months that come afterChristmas is gonna feel even
more intense.
There's nothing fun or joyfulabout that, and yet that can
kind of be what our culturepressures us into.
We think that we need to doChristmas bigger and better
(02:34):
every year, and we think we needto get our wives and our.
Kids and our girlfriends, youknow, something extra special
and, and that means that we needto spend a lot of money on it in
order for that to be the thingthat makes it work.
Or we feel pressure fromextended family members to have
to come be with them, to travelnear them, to, you know, afford
a hotel room and a rental carand a whatever else to be able
(02:57):
to, you know, make the trip workthat we can spend time with our
family around the holidays.
All of those things can begreat, but they also can just be
really crushing.
They can leave us feeling like,was all of that money actually
worth it?
Did I actually enjoy and getanything out of this Christmas
season other than stress anddebt?
That's not what any of us wantfrom Christmas.
(03:19):
So how can we think about how todo it all differently so that we
can arrive in January in the newyear with a season with a season
of peace that actually followsthe piece of Christmas?
How can we maintain that alongwith us, especially as it
relates to our finances?
I'll tell you a story.
(03:40):
Uh, I'll tell you a couplestories actually of some ways
that I've done it not so well,and then actually a way that we
did it well.
So early on in our marriage, mywife and I, uh, we weren't
making a lot of money, but wewanted to be able to enjoy
Christmas.
And so we actually like probablyspent more than we should.
We sort of set a budget limit,but you know, I think both of us
(04:00):
sort of felt the desire to justkind of not worry about that too
much.
And so we bought more than weshould and we put it on the
credit card.
And, uh, it was fun.
Like we enjoyed, you know, thepresents that we got on
Christmas and it was nice tojust kind of feel the, the
freedom and the flexibility ofgetting some nice things for
each other without having toworry about the money.
'cause we felt like we kinda hadto worry about money all year
(04:22):
long and it was nice to justkind of like take the pressure
off for a little bit.
But then come January, you know,we had a bill, credit card bill,
and it took us several monthsactually to pay off that credit
card bill.
It was probably April, maybeeven May, before we finally had
it completely paid off from whatwe had put it put on it.
During Christmas, and I'll behonest, by the time we had the
(04:43):
thing paid off, I couldn't evenremember what we got each other
for Christmas.
I mean, it was really kind oflike, okay, this was too much.
Like we enjoyed the moment ofthe gift giving, but then it
brought us a lot of pain afterthat and it just wasn't worth it
because the gifts weren't allthat significant.
They weren't the kinds of thingsthat lasted and that we were
(05:03):
remembered forever.
They were just sort of like.
Temporary joys.
And in that temporary joy webrought ourselves a lot more
long-term pain and frustrationand that wasn't good.
We had to cut back on otherthings during those months while
we were paying off the creditcard bill.
And that was more stressful thanwas worth the brief joy that we
got out of Gift Giving onChristmas.
(05:24):
Now, fast forward a few yearsand we got a little better at
that.
We figured out how to actually.
Not just set a budget limit forourselves, but actually to like
try to build gifts that were notjust about spending money.
So we kind of talked about likehow could we create experiences
for each other, even if theywere cheap experiences, but that
(05:46):
things, things that weremeaningful for each other that
we actually would enjoy doing.
And so we created some likespecial occasions for each other
that were built around thingsthat we each loved and that we
each enjoyed.
And that actually was way morefun, not only to like.
Enjoy the gift when it finallydid happen, but to actually
craft it, to put it together, tothink about, oh, what's my wife
(06:07):
really gonna like here?
And doing that kind of budgetedgift giving actually made it
more fun and more enjoyable tofigure out what we had come up
for each other.
Now, those are the kinds ofthings that I want you to think
about as you think about how toset a realistic budget for
yourselves for Christmas.
So as you're doing this, here's,here's a few things that I want
(06:28):
to kind of give you some tips onto think about.
How do you think about yourfinances around Christmas time?
So the first is to really startwith your priorities.
Okay?
Now, you as an individual or youas a couple, or you as a family,
your priorities might bedifferent than other people's
priorities, and that's reallyokay.
Where it gets hard is when yourpriorities might be different
(06:51):
from each other's priorities,and so that's where you really
have to kind of talk it throughand figure out what's the best
way to be able to preserve joyand peace throughout the season.
And especially how to do that asit relates to your finances.
Maybe she wants more of a giftand you want more of an
experience.
Or maybe she values spending alittle more at Christmas because
(07:15):
she's not as concerned about,you know, what the budget looks
like and you value beingconservative because you don't
want to deal with the creditcard debt.
Okay?
So you've gotta talk thosethings through and figure out
how you can both get on the samepage in a way that honors each
other.
You also have to do the samething with your kids in mind.
I know that, uh, my wife and Ican really fall guilty to like,
(07:36):
okay, maybe we won't spend asmuch money on each other, but
we're gonna spend a lot of moneyon the kids this year because
we've got some really excitingthings that we want to get them.
Or they have some big ticketitems that they really want.
And the joy of giving your kidsfun gifts, uh, can be really
great at Christmas.
You know, they tend to be morefull of wonder and excitement
about gifts on Christmas thanadults do.
And so, uh, it can be really funto actually kind of go overboard
(07:59):
on them a little.
Bit, but then you not only likeleave each other out of the
picture to some extent, but youstill also end up with all of
that debt that are probably onthings that your kids are also
gonna forget in a very shortamount of time.
So get everybody on the samepage.
Start with your priorities.
Figure out what those thingsare.
Maybe it's gifts, maybe it'sexperiences, maybe it's travel
(08:23):
and being with family, and youwanna make sure that you
prioritize that.
Even over gifts.
All of that's okay.
Just figure out what works foryou and how to be able to do it.
Well, the next thing that youneed to do is actually start
with a limit.
And how you figure out the limitcan really be up to how you
handle budgeting in your family.
Maybe you've got some moneyalready saved up and you're just
(08:44):
gonna use that money forChristmas gifts, and so you're
doing it that way.
Maybe you've racked up somecredit card points over the
course of the year and you'regonna just use those to be able
to buy a Christmas gifts.
Or you've got a little bit ofmoney and some, you know, bonus
points to be able to use.
Maybe you know that you're gonnadip into savings for a little
bit for Christmas, but you'regonna be able to replenish that
(09:04):
savings within, you know, Xamount of time in the new year.
And so it's okay to be able todo that.
All of that is fine.
What I would not encourage youto do is to go into any kind of
debt because of Christmas gifts.
It just isn't worth it.
You're gonna give yourselvesmore pain.
And pain actually takes away thejoy and the peace that you're
trying to bring with the giftgiving in the first place.
(09:25):
So do everything you can toavoid extra debt at Christmas
and just let what you can affordbe the kinds of things that
bring you joy and that bringyour family members joy as well.
Decide what your budget is goingto be and stick to it because
you've thought it throughtogether.
Now you need to think about allthe things together, gifts.
(09:45):
Parties, travel, all of thosekinds of, you know, things that
you're doing for Christmas needto be factored into the whole
picture, or otherwise, yourbudget can blow up pretty,
pretty quick.
Maybe you've thought aboutgifts, but you haven't really
factored in the cost of, ohgosh, now we gotta buy four
plane tickets to fly everybodyout to see grandma.
You know, or whatever it is.
And that wasn't really factoredinto the budget all of a sudden.
(10:08):
Things get really hard becauseyou left that part out of the
picture, so just make sure thatyou include all of that, and if
it means that you need to cutback on one thing in order to be
able to afford the other thing,that's okay.
It's even okay to disappointsome extended family members.
If your budget just doesn'tallow you to do what your
extended family would like youto do this year.
(10:28):
You just have to have thecourage to be able to tell them,
Hey.
We love you guys.
We want to be able to see you.
We won't be able to do it thisyear at Christmas.
Let's make a plan for when wecan do it next, but we just
don't have the resources to beable to pull that off this year.
One more thing that you alsoprobably want to factor into
your budget is just generosity.
The experience of Christmas isall about loving and caring for
(10:53):
others, and so figuring out howyou incorporate that into your
Christmas season and yourChristmas budget is really
important.
Maybe you have.
Some money that you wanna setaside to give a little extra to
your church during this season.
Or maybe you want to visit anonprofit or a food bank or a
homeless shelter or somethinglike that during this season and
(11:13):
be able to chip in andcontribute a little extra there.
Maybe you've got some otherproject that your kids are
involved in through theirschool, and you want to be able
to help out with that.
Maybe you just want to createsome kind of thing to do that
you can get your family involvedin and help remind them that.
Christmas isn't just aboutmaterialism.
It's actually about loving andcaring for others, and there's
(11:34):
ways to do that that aren't justabout buying each other
expensive gifts that we need tocare for others who maybe can't
afford any kind of gifts at all,but we can do something really
special and unique for them.
If you don't have any ideas onhow to do that, reach out to a
local church near you, even ifyou're not a church goer
yourself.
Most churches do communityoriented things around
(11:55):
Christmas, like, uh, gift drivesor toy drives or feeding, uh,
people or any kind of, somechurches do like.
Dinners for the homeless orclothing drives, or all kinds of
just ways of being able to helpout the community during the
Christmas season.
So reach out to a local churchand just find out what are they
doing and can you get involvedand help.
(12:15):
You don't have to start going tothat church, but you might
actually find that some of thethings that they're doing allow
you to be generous in ways thatyou wouldn't normally be
otherwise, and that can be agreat thing to do at Christmas.
Now look, all of the stuff thatwe're talking about, budgeting,
gift giving, uh, planning,financially, thinking about how
to be generous, all of thosethings are really just skills.
(12:36):
Skills is one of the things thatwe talk about here at Manhood
Tribes a lot.
It's one of our.
Five marks of manhood andlearning to grow in the area of
skill is a great way to be ableto level up your ability of what
it means to be a man.
The way that you can figure thatout is actually through a free
quiz that I've created calledHow Manly Are You?
And it's a perfect way to seehow you measure up in terms of
(12:59):
the five marks of manhood andwhat you need to do to be able
to get.
Better at being a man.
So if you go to manhoodtribes.com/manly, you can
download that free quiz rightthere and learn how you can
improve not only in skill, butin all the five marks of manhood
as well.
Okay.
Now as you're thinking aboutwhat Christmas is gonna look
like, when you have been able tomaintain a budget, hit the
(13:22):
priorities that you wanted tohit, have some generosity built
in along the way, and arrive atJanuary with some peace, I want
you to imagine what that pictureis gonna look like.
I want you to imagine Christmasmorning.
The joy that everyone isexperiencing as their opening
gifts, learning of the thingsthat they got, that they're
(13:43):
gonna get to do with you andwith each other, uh, through the
experiences that you've created,the fun that everybody's gonna
have, getting together withextended family and that nothing
hanging over you has anything todo with finances.
You're not worried about thefact that maybe you spent too
much, you aren't dreading thecredit card payment that's gonna
come up in January.
(14:04):
You're not thinking about whereyou're gonna have to cut corners
with your budget.
You're able to carry over thepeace and the joy of Christmas
into the new year because youare free in terms of how you
have handled your finances.
And as a man, instead ofresenting what you or your wife
or girlfriends spent, youactually can feel proud of
(14:28):
yourself as a man for how youled your family well, to be able
to manage your shared resourcesthis Christmas season.
Christmas becomes about presenceit becomes about connection, it
becomes about generosity, andall of those things are possible
because you didn't make it aboutdebt and regret by spending too
(14:48):
much money.
That's the kind of Christmasexperience that you're looking
for.
That's the kind of new year thatyou want to head into, and all
of that is possible if you'lljust make a simple plan devoted
to your priorities and reallytry to stick to it together as a
couple or as a family this yearat Christmas.
Now guys, I hope that this hasbeen really helpful for you and
has given you some good insightsin terms of how to think about
(15:09):
what to do this year atChristmas with regards to your
finances.
I would love for you to put acomment down in the comment
section below where you justsay, what's one money move that
you've made that has helped youstick to a budget at Christmas?
Maybe your comment can help outanother guy who's feeling a
little stuck or a little anxiousabout how he's handling his own
money, and that can be the waythat helps him find some freedom
(15:31):
this year at Christmas.
Okay.
I hope that's helpful and I lookforward to seeing you again next
time.
Right here on the Manhood TribeShow.
We'll talk again soon.
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