The holiday season is upon us. This magical time of the year can quickly become stressful for many, both financially and emotionally. But, it doesnβt have to be.
Switching your focus from purchasing lots of gifts to the people you love, and building relationships with them, can help ease the expectations that cause us to spend, spend, spend.
Know that there is a whole community of people who will be there to lend support as you focus on loving people, not things.
Here are some wonderful articles by this community to help you get started-
Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist provides wonderful resources on creating simple holidays and remembering the true meaning for celebrating: love. Check out his posts here-
The Helpful Guide to Simple Christmas Giving the Gift of Christmas
Holiday shopping. We can do better.
12 Simple Ideas to Spread Holiday Cheer This Week
A Lighter, Simpler, More Beautiful Holiday
5 Tips for A More Intentional Holiday Season
12 Steps to Avoid Disappointment This Holiday Season
Courtney Carver of Be More With Less, takes a gentler, but still direct approach to creating a simpler holiday season. A few of her posts can be found here-
30 Simple Ways to Take Care of Yourself Over the Holiday Season
Tis the Season For More Joy & Less Clutter
Fight Holiday Spending With A Simplicity Challenge
Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists add their insight into just what shopping and consuming does for us (or to us) during the holidays. Their essays are available here-
5 Steps Toward A More Meaningful Holiday Season
40 Reasons to Avoid Shopping on Black Friday
Ask For Better Christmas Presents
The majority of us probably arenβt quite ready to have a completely gift-less holiday season, but if you feel like this may be for you, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits gives some great advice and convincing reasons to go without in these posts-
5 Questions to Simplify Your Life During the Holidays
The Clutter-free Holiday Guide
The Buy-Nothing Holiday Survival Guide
Kids Who Are Gift-less Are Gifted
The Case Against Buy Christmas Presents
The community of people who are living simpler, more intentional lives is growing. In addition to the better-known minimalists mentioned above, check out the excellent posts below for more holiday season simplifying help.
Embrace A Minimalist Christmas with These Gift Ideas
6 Ways to Keep Advent Simple & Special
Simplify the Holidays Without Feeling Like A Scrooge
10 Tips for Simplifying Christmas
My hope and wish for you this coming holiday season is that it is filled with more joy, and less stress, and many wonderful memories created with family and friends.