Right, here we go. We’re officially hurtling toward Christmas. Black Friday is behind
us, Advent calendars are out, and the supermarkets are already trying to convince
us we need twelve types of stuffing and a turkey big enough to feed Wales.

Every year, around this time, money wobbles quietly begin. Some people start
shopping early “to be organised.” Others wait until Christmas Eve “to avoid
temptation,” only to panic-buy like contestants on Supermarket Sweep.

And, if we’re really honest, most households aren’t struggling because of life-or-
death needs. It’s the wants. The extras. The “it’s Christmas… go on then” spending
that spirals beautifully out of control. You know the ones — the scented candle no
one asked for but is now £35 because it’s “Nordic pine.” The gifts for people you
barely see but feel you should buy for. The fancy food that nobody eats but “looks
nice on the table.”

We don’t like to admit this, so let’s tell the truth: most of us have enough for our
needs. It’s our wants that break us. And at Christmas, our wants often come
dressed up as obligations, guilt, nostalgia, compensation, loneliness, or the hope
that more “stuff” will create more warmth.

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

Where Your Wants Are Really Coming From

A want isn’t automatically bad. There’s nothing wrong with buying something special
because it genuinely brings joy. But most people never stop to ask themselves
where their wants come from.

Do you want it because it delights you?
Or because you’re trying to fill a gap?

Loneliness
Boredom
Pressure
Sadness
Old childhood hurt
Fear of disappointing people
Trying to recreate a Christmas you never actually had?

These are the silent drivers of festive overspending — and they’re rarely spoken
about. But the truth is, emotional spending is as common as mince pies. In fact,
many of the clients I work with realise, quite quickly, that their problem isn’t money at
all — it’s how they use money to regulate emotion, comfort themselves, avoid
conflict, prove something, or numb something (as explored in Money Talks: Who’s
Driving Your Bank Account? ).

The problem is that the “comfort” wears off, but the Direct Debit doesn’t.

December feels magical.
January feels like regret with a side of panic.

A Dose of Reality from India

I’ve just come back from India — where I completed a charity trek for the amazing
organisation Young Gloucestershire. What an experience. I travelled through Delhi
and Dharamshala, and I saw a lot… including the inside of a hospital after a chest
infection decided to knock me sideways. The doctors were extraordinary — kind,
calm, and incredibly helpful — and it reminded me yet again how much we take for
granted in our comfortable little corner of the world.

And despite the poverty I witnessed, on a scale most of us will never experience
first-hand, what struck me wasn’t despair. It was joy. Warmth. Humour. Connection.
People living in incredibly tough conditions — patchy electricity, unreliable water,
small homes shared by multiple generations — and yet showing a level of
community and spirit that is hard to put into words.

Families walking arm-in-arm.
Children playing in the street.
People smiling — genuinely smiling — with so little stuff and so much life.

It shook something in me.

We live in a world where having three streaming subscriptions, two food delivery
apps and a cupboard full of “just in case” presents still doesn’t feel like enough.

And yet, in places where comfort is not guaranteed, people still find ways to laugh,
connect and live fully. It was a huge reminder of just how fortunate we are — and
how rarely we stop to notice. And they are not sitting there thinking their life is
incomplete because they don’t have a £35 candle.

I don’t say this in a judgemental “be grateful!” way. I say it as a wake-up call. We are
drowning in abundance. Running water. Heating. Electric lights. A supermarket down
the road stacked with options. A home that locks. These are luxuries for a staggering
number of human beings on the planet.

But our brains have normalised it so thoroughly that we barely notice.
We’ve forgotten that enough is a feeling, not a number — something Lynne Twist
writes beautifully about in her book The Soul of Money, where she describes
sufficiency as that balanced space between too little and too much.

Most of us are not suffering from scarcity.
We are suffering from overwhelm.

Too many choices. Too much comparison. Too much pressure to perform Christmas
instead of experience it.

The Seductive “Flick-It Moment”

This is the moment where your brain goes offline for a second, all reasonable
thought leaves the building, and your inner Fool sprints forward waving your debit
card like a sparkler.

The Flick-It Moment.

It’s that split-second impulse — “Oh go on then…” — followed by a purchase that
makes absolutely no sense 24 hours later.

The Flick-It Moment feels good for about nine seconds.

January lasts thirty-one days.

And here’s the science bit: these moments aren’t financial decisions — they’re
emotional ones. According to neuroanatomist Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, emotional reactions
only last 90 seconds unless we feed them. If you pause, breathe and wait out that
90-second storm, you’d be shocked at how many Flick-It purchases never happen.

Imagine the money you’d keep — and the peace you’d protect — if you made the
90-second pause your December superpower.

A Radical Idea: What If You Did Christmas Consciously This Year?

Not meanly.
Not tightly.
Not miserably.
But consciously.

Before you buy anything, ask:

1. Is this a need or a want?
(And don’t kid yourself, you know the difference.)
2. If it’s a want, what’s driving it?
Joy? Obligation? Panic? Guilt? Loneliness?
3. Does this purchase move me toward sufficiency or away from it?
Does it add meaning? Or clutter?
4. Will January-Me thank me for this?
If the answer is no — stop.
5. Is there a simpler, more heartfelt alternative?
Time, presence, handwritten letters, a phone call, shared food, fun, homemade
plans. These things cost less and mean more.
Gratitude: The Antidote to Wanting More
If you want one powerful shift this Christmas, do this:

Every day in December, write down five things you have that someone in the
world would dream of.

Running water.
Electricity.
A bed.
Friends.
A warm coat.
A fridge.
Clean streets.
A choice of food.
The ability to earn.

You will feel your nervous system settle.
Your wants will shrink.
Your sense of enough grows.

This isn’t toxic positivity.
It’s grounding yourself back into reality.

Do Your Financial Future a Favour

You can enjoy Christmas.
You can buy lovely things.
You can be generous.
You can create magic.

But do it awake.

Christmas lasts a week.
Your bank balance lasts all year.

So ask yourself — with love, honesty, and a bit of backbone:

Do I want to enter 2026 empowered, or already digging myself out?
Do I want calm or chaos?
Who am I choosing to be with money this Christmas?

You already know the answer.

Here’s to a Christmas full of warmth, meaning, and fewer Flick-It Moments — and to
a January you can walk into with your head high.

Thank you for reading
www.fannysnaith.com