10 Signs You've Spent Way Too Much Money This Christmas

Sometimes during the holidays, we have carefully planned budget. We know our limits and we spend within them. Even if we spend a little extra on some unexpected expenses, it typically isn't a big deal. Then there are those holidays when we overspend. There are some Christmas shopping sprees that go too far. When someone asks you about your budget, your response is, "What budget?" Let's discuss overspending during the holiday season.

Let's face it, some of us really like to shop. Some of us have problems balancing our checkbooks. Then there are those of us that are bombarded with long shopping lists from friends and family members. Still, there are the kind souls that buy many gift for charities. No matter what the reason, sometimes you have gone way past your limit. Check out this helpful (or not so helpful) list of signs that you've spent way too much money this Christmas.

1. You decided it wasn't enough to decorate just one Christmas tree this year. Instead, you bought Christmas trees for each room in your house. You also bought ornaments that matched the theme for each Christmas tree. The Hello Kitty Christmas tree in your daughter's room was a nice idea. The Toilet Paper themed Christmas tree in the bathroom... not such a nice idea!
2. This year you bought all new inflatable decorations for the front yard. It was a good idea until you decided you should cover the entire yard with them. A couple of decorations would have been cute; a couple dozen probably suggests you have a problem.
3. You've been playing a fun game of "credit card roulette" each time you go to pay for purchases at stores. You swipe one card after another until you find the card that does not get declined due to overcharging it.
4. Each time you go to the bank to withdrawal more money, the customer service rep asks, "Even more Christmas shopping?" To avoid this, you started using the ATM machine, but even that has started asking the same question. It is kind of creepy.
5. After going on several shopping sprees, you begin to sort through the items you purchased. There are items you don't even remember buying. You also begin to realize you bought duplicate gifts for some people. There are also some unnecessary Christmas presents; 10 Furbies when you don't even know any children might not be that economical.
6. The people that work at the mall are starting to ask you questions like, "Do you work in the mall? I see you here all the time!" or "Do you live here? We can set up a cot for you in the back."
7. Your entire livingroom is completely covered in gifts, decorations, and wrapping paper. You haven't seen your couch in two weeks. For that matter, you are kind of concerned since you haven't seen your cat in a few days either.
8. Since you wanted to make sure you were buying outfits that would fit your friends and family members, it only made sense to try some of them on to imagine how the clothing would look on them. It started getting out of hand when you decided to buy everything you tried on for yourself as well. It got really out of control when you opted to buy more for yourself than anyone else.
9. Although buying reindeer for your front lawn for Christmas is a creative and festive look, plastic decorations would have probably been more than enough. Purchasing actual live reindeer was not that practical and entirely too expensive.
10. Your last purchase during the holiday season was a new mailbox. You anticipated so many credit card bills coming in January, it was in your best interest to have two mailboxes. You already bought your mail carrier a back brace for Christmas so he'll be able to haul all your mail.

Merry Christmas!

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