I was in our local supermarket at the weekend 

 

bad move! 

 

The place was packed full of rabid shoppers panic buying for Christmas 

 

Trolleys were filled with 10 loaves of bread, half a ton of Christmas treats and a lake of booze 

 

The staff were busy restocking depleted shelves like crazy.

 

The high street shops and the internet are jammed to capacity and sales are through the roof 

 

I don’t get it.

 

For a start the shops will be closed for maybe a day or just part of a day over Christmas so there is no need to stock up like you are preparing for a nuclear war

 

And the Internet never closes 

 

But there’s a worse side to it that this 

 

People get themselves into serious debt for this short festival.

 

My partner typically has a number of pupils cancelling driving lessons because they need the money for Christmas. 

 

The choose to put life changing skills on the back burner so they can buy the latest toys, gadgets and fad presents 

 

And to stuff their fridges and cupboards with more food that they need or will use and more booze than they should 

 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a humbug - I like to eat, drink and make merry as much as the next person - more than some 

 

But I’m never going to get in debt for it 

 

And when money was short and the future uncertain I put all that on the back burner in exchange for gaining skills that would let me enjoy it all the more down the line

 

And not just on the few days of the year that I’m “allowed to”.

 

I guess a lot of this Christmas madness has to do with time poverty as much as anything else 

 

When you work 8 or more hours per day for 5 or more days per week for years and decades 

 

You feel entitled to a real blowout every now and then.

 

When you escape from that by investing in a couple of years of cutting back and focussing on the future 

 

And have a lot of free time on your hands as a result 

 

You find yourself living a life that you don’t need to take holidays from 

 

For me that started HERE - as it can for you 

 

(and it cost less to get started than a small turkey) 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

Dave