Whenever I hear people say, 'Spend wisely in December, as January is a two-in-one month,' I just burst out laughing. You know it’s quite laughable how in December one is living their best life, and in January they are almost feeding from hand to mouth.
The thing is, every year you think people would learn their lessons, but then they never do, which is where the problem lies. Basically I do not blame them so much. I mean, what is life if we can’t seem to enjoy festivities?
My friend would often say that the body that does the work should still enjoy the funds, but given how challenging life gets in January, how does one celebrate the festivities on a budget? Because really, the January is a two-in-one month slogan is basically because one has to live on a shoestring budget after spending lavishly the previous month.
You know, going through my expenses for the year, I saw January is one month I spent the most, and it still didn’t feel as such, as it felt like I was grasping at straws. It's not like I even spent so much on last year's festivities, but somehow I still felt the heat the following month, being January.
You see, what my last year's experience did for me was expose me to the concept of scale of preference in a real-life scenario. One thing I have come to discover is that a good budget can never leave one hanging, stranded or misled.
Again, drafting a budget gives us an insight into what is most important. For starters, I think a decent dinner with family and a few friends would save one from more exorbitant costs than throwing a lavish party. But then if a lavish party is affordable, why not?
Basically people should celebrate according to their financial availability plus capacity and not to impress. Notably for some individuals Festivities are a time for show-offs, a time where they get to outdo their neighbours as well as other acquaintances.
I once lived in a compound in my childhood where every Christmas ones family was being judged by the type of dish prepared and the quality of clothes that the children put on. Coming to my household, Religiously wise Christmas is not in our doctrine, and we can choose to not celebrate it, but every year my parents made sure to make it memorable for us so that we wouldn’t feel left out.
They were able to pull it off because they could afford it and not once did we experience any difficulty the following month. Although there were festivities where we got to wear the same outfit for both Christmas and New Year.
There were also festivities where we got just palatable dishes like jollof or fried rice with coleslaw and chicken for Christmas alone, and New Year would just be like every other day. This were my parents celebrating the period and making it memorable for us according to their financial capabilities, and this is one lesson from their actions that has followed me through life and instilled in me contentment.
Going forward in my adult years, Christmas and New Year becomes more of a bonding time with family than a period of luxuries and competition. For me, I’m not hosting anybody this year I would changing my environment to spend the period with family and friends. I have already saved up for next month’s expenses so basically whatever money left would just be to go out to the great outdoors with my daughter and experience really fun activities.