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As a high school senior I was lucky enough to enjoy a part time school schedule that allowed me to work a lot of hours. The plan was to save up as much as I could for college. It worked, too. But the biggest shock of my life came in the spring of my freshman year when it came time to do my taxes.<\/p>\n
I received what to me was a huge sum of money back from the tax man \u2013 a little more than $700.<\/p>\n
Naturally, being young and without the limits of my parents that money was gone in a blink of an eye. I can recall well the lecture I received from my father when I told him I had none of that money left.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, what you could have done with that money!\u201d he said, really pouring it on. I expected him to lecture me about savings and investment.<\/p>\n
But he surprised me. Dad said, \u201cYou could have flown home for your mother\u2019s birthday and still have had money left over for Christmas<\/a>!\u201d<\/p>\n That was the hook right there \u2013 that word Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of course, Dad was right. How could I be so dumb?<\/em><\/p>\n The next year I couldn\u2019t wait to file my tax return. When it came \u2013 nearly $900 this time \u2013 I instantly put the money where it would be difficult to touch it. I put it in the joint savings account I still held with my mother. If I spent a dime, I knew I would get a call.<\/p>\n \u201cHoney, are you alright? Do you need food?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Mom thought I lived on crackers and peanut butter.<\/p>\n What that $900 did for me was fuel my Christmas<\/a> dreams. For several delicious months I schemed with different ways I could spend the money.<\/p>\n I could go home for Christmas<\/a> with arms full of presents. I could decorate my apartment \u2013 and my car \u2013 to the hilt. I could take a ski vacation in a dream Christmas<\/a> destination. The possibilities were endless.<\/p>\n What I began to realize was that it gave me back the delicious anticipation for Christmas<\/a> I had so enjoyed as a girl.<\/p>\n It made me understand that Christmas<\/a> wasn\u2019t in the getting \u2013 it was in the planning, the giving, the build-up and the ability to go do all the Christmas<\/a> stuff I love<\/a> to do.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t spend any money until I stumbled upon a treasure while on a getaway with a girlfriend. We visited her family in Maine and there in her little hometown was a little bookstore. We meandered in and after poking around a while I found an original bound copy of a collection of stories written by Edgar Allan Poe.<\/p>\n My Dad \u2013 the English major \u2013 loves Poe. He always talked of starting a collection of genuine 19th<\/sup> century books. He wanted to fill his home office with such works.<\/p>\n Before me in this bookstore was the Christmas<\/a> gift for my Dad he never expected. I bought that 1860 edition for the crazy sum of $65 and guarded it with my life for the next six months.<\/p>\n That purchase forced a decision within me. I had<\/em> to go home that Christmas<\/a>. I had<\/em> to see Dad\u2019s face when he opened that book.<\/p>\n The realization suddenly brought out my planner. I started to shop for airfare and count paydays until Christmas<\/a>. I was on an instant budget.<\/p>\n But I had also put myself on a happy train.<\/p>\n Now Christmas<\/a> was anticipated in a whole new way. I had time and I had resources to really make it an event.<\/p>\n Looking back on it now I cannot decide who had the bigger Christmas<\/a> \u2013 me, or the rest of my family who received my Christmas<\/a> surprises.<\/p>\n Christmas<\/a> morning was far better than I ever hoped.<\/p>\n Mom cried when she saw the portrait I had painted of her parents. My little sister squealed when I gave her the first real makeup of her life (she was 11). Dad was rendered simply speechless with his vintage volume of Poe.<\/p>\n Nothing, but nothing could match the surprise of just walking in the door on Christmas<\/a> Eve morning and telling Mom I was home for three days. In all, it was a Christmas<\/a> to remember — worth every dollar and all those fantastic days of anticipation.<\/p>\n When Christmas<\/a> was over all I could think about was my next tax return and what I could do with it.<\/p>\n That has been my routine, year after year, for almost 30 years now.<\/p>\n My Dad and later my husband lectured me about withholding rates and not giving the government free money for a year.<\/p>\n I knew all those arguments.<\/p>\n They did not matter then and they don\u2019t matter now.<\/p>\n The tax man is my Santa<\/a> Claus \u2013 my little Christmas<\/a> savings plan that helps me enjoy the fun of Christmas<\/a> nearly all year.<\/p>\n Every year it is a different strategy. But every year it gets us through it without having to plan on other funds.<\/p>\n It might not be for everyone. But it works for me.<\/p>\n