Tag: spouse spends too much

Are you familiar with this holly-but-not-so-jolly cycle? As the holidays approach, you promise yourself that this year you won’t get caught up in a frenzy of overspending. You know that piles of gifts do little to enhance your family’s seasonal joy—and you definitely don’t want a debt hangover that carries into January. And yet, every year, your resolve disappears under a mountain of shopping bags and wrapping paper.

You can’t seem to stop yourself from adding one more person to the list; agonizing over finding gifts at the "right" price point so recipients won’t think you’re cheap; charging "just" one more gift for each kid so that the pile under the tree will be big enough, and so on.