Memories over Money: How to avoid holiday debt?

Ralph, every year I spend so much on gifts and decorations that I forget what the holidays are really about. How do I focus on making memories without overspending? What a great question. I'm so happy you sent that in.Listen, if you've got a question for the show you can send it to, justaskRalph.com. just go to that website, put your name, your email address and the question you want to send over, and guess what? You might very well be on the show.The truth is, what do people remember the most? I want you to really think about this for a second. Do they remember the gifts or do they remember the moments?Well, today on the show, let's talk about how to build memories that last longer than those dreaded credit card receipts.

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Welcome to the show. I'm Ralph. This is the show that helps you break that cycle of financial shame with confidence.And today we're continuing our series about how to have a joyful holiday without going into debt to do it. I want to start today talking about one of the greatest Christmases my family ever had. Let me tell you about that. Let me set the scene for you.Every year it seemed like all we did was we got this list of stuff from the kids. They gave us a list of, oh, we want this and we want that and this toy and that toy and this and that.And I tell you what, there was one particular year I said to my wife, I said, every year these kids give us this list. I said, there's no joy in this. It's just, oh, dad, buy us this bias that. I said, we need to think, we need to change the dynamic.We need to change the what we are doing one time. And my wife said, hey, I found this thing online. It's called the Great Wolf Lodge. And I'm not promoting the Great Wolf Lodge.I don't have an affiliate relationship with them. But I said to the kids, I said, okay, we're going to change it up this year. We're going to do something different.Now, of course, the kids at first are like, whoa, man, wait a minute, are we not going to get any toys? I said, well, hold on a second. This is not an inexpensive thing to do. So you're going to get less gifts. But just bear with me here.You're going to really love this gift. So my youngest is like, I don't like this, dad. I like a bunch of toys. I said, well, Guess what? Your mom and I are in charge.So here's what we're going to do this year. So we made these plans.We decided we were going to take the kid's grandfather and the kid's uncle, and we made this plan to go to this Great Wolf Lodge. It was about two hours from our house, and the kids didn't really know too much about it. They were pretty young at the time.But I said, here's the deal. It's going to be very cool. There's a indoor water park. There's water slides, there's a wave pool. I mean, it's going to be fantastic.Now, of course, I didn't tell them this part. It was all, you can eat food. I mean, the buffets were amazing. That's when I was big and fat at the time. So I was loving the buffets.But here's the coolest part. I never forget this every night. And. And picture this. This big. It's like a ski lodge. That's the best way I can explain.This huge ski lodge had water park built into it, beautiful hotel. Well, every night in the lobby, they would play Christmas music.And as the Christmas music play, guess what, you sit there and it starts to snow in the lobby. And listen. My kids are like, wow, this is cool, dad.Now, of course, they wanted to make snowmen, but there wasn't enough snow to make snowmen or do snow angels. But what a great experience. Yes, it costs some money, but to this day, and my kids were just around, we were having a dinner as a family.Yesterday, my son is up from Texas with his wife, and we had a family dinner. And. And I said, I'm going to be recording a show the next couple days about family traditions and holiday tradition.They said, oh, you got to tell that one about Great Wolf Lodge. So think about that. They were really young, and they can still remember that time spent with my wife and I and their uncle and their grandfather.So it's those things that really matter. Which leads us back to our question today, and a great listener question we got. How do I focus on making memories without overspending?Yeah, it's really hard, isn't it? It's really hard not to overspend because we want to be that loving, want to give those gifts.But here's the thing I want you to really lean into today. Those memories last longer. I think about it in my own childhood. I can't remember the toys that my mom and dad got me or my grandparents got me.There's all kinds of things but man, I can remember the laughter and I can remember those connections. I can remember that Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge. I can remember those Christmases with my grandparents.And listen, you don't have to spend a lot of money either. Great Wolf Lodge was not cheap, but there are low cost things that make a huge impact. Maybe bake something together, play some family board games.Hey, maybe go out and walk around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. Those things don't cost anything at all.And I just want you to focus on experiences over purchases because those are the things that really strengthen relationships in life. I was driving back, we went out and got some pizza with the kids yesterday.And I'm driving along and my wife and my son and my daughter in law are in the back seat. My youngest is in the front seat. And I was just savoring like this is what life's all about. It's those relationships.It wasn't about gifts, it was the relationships. Because we're building traditions, we're building a legacy.And I asked my daughter in law, I said, what was the big thing that you did with your family? And of course my son was kind of annoyed by this. He said, but dad, here's what they do. They have this ceremony at Christmas.They open one gift at a time and each person takes their time and they're sort of center stage on that. But that's their ceremony. Doesn't cost them anything to do that. But that's their tradition. That's their legacy.And I was planning the episode with Abby, she lives in the Philippines actually. And she was telling me, ralph, in September here, we're already starting the holiday season.She was telling me that Christmas songs are playing already. So she hears those songs and that's tradition for her. But that doesn't mean you have to go into debt like this person alluded to today.That overspending, that putting that money in that credit card or whatever it looks like for you, it just robs the peace later. Yeah, you can have a great holiday season. But then, man, come January, your peace is just gone. Because I want you to remember this.Memories don't come with interest charges. They just come from the heart. Which leads me to our Bible verse today. This one comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verse 13.It says each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toll. This is the gift of God. See, even God himself is saying experience matters. Why about we pray together right now?Lord, we come to you today and we're really leaning into this idea of building experiences and celebrating the birth of Christ. So, Lord, we just have gratitude that you give us time with loved ones and that's time we can never get back, Lord.Those are the things that are going to matter in our lives, Lord. So give us right now wisdom to prioritize those things that truly matters.Because it's so easy to get lost in that buying game and we end up buying, losing all the joy with those credit card bills. And we just ask right now that you would give us a heart that values moments over money. We ask this in confidence in the name of Jesus, Amen.All right, so you ready for your one action item for today? This one is going to be fantastic. Just plan one family memory making event doesn't have to cost a lot of money.It could be the game night or maybe you bake a cake together or maybe even go out and do some Christmas caroling. Go look at the Christmas lights. Just one memory making event.Because I'm going to tell you right now, those are the moments that you're going to cherish for the rest of your life. So let me ask you right now, what's your one idea for memory making events? Hey, send me an email.Go right to our website, financiallyconfidentchristian.com and send me an email. Here's what we're going to do in our family because here's the truth. Moments outlast things. Laughter echoes on for generations.And love doesn't cost you a dime. Remember, the best parts of the holidays can't be bought. They're shared. They're shared with loved ones.And as I said the last two days, it's all about presence. Your presence. That's what matters, not those presents under the tree.I want to encourage you today, go out there and be a financially confident Christian. I have confidence in you. Have confidence in yourself. Stay financially savvy. God bless you and you have a great day.