4 Christmas Mistakes Illinoisans Always Regret and How to Avoid Them

If you want this Christmas season to be merry and bright instead of stressful and disaster-full, there are four major things you should try hard not to do this year.

Christmas Panic in Illinois

Today I nearly had a meltdown because I realized Christmas is about two weeks away and I have two long lists of things I still need to buy, do, and make.

Every year I say I am not going to do this to myself at Christmas. I have big plans to start shopping early and to take on less projects, but yet, here I am totally stressing myself out and doing all the things last minute.

If I ever hope to have the time to fully enjoy my favorite time of the year, I need to make some changes. I think I'll start by making sure I don't do any of these four things.

The 4 Biggest Christmas Mistakes Illinoisans Make

I think most people would agree that one of the things they get most stressed about at Christmas is buying gifts. Deciding what to buy people and figuring out how to pay for all of it can cause many a sleepless night, so I think this is the number one mistake we need to avoid making this holiday season:

Treating the Budget Like a Suggestion

Many people, (myself included), get so hung up on the number of gifts people have to open that the set spending limit goes straight out the window. Giving someone one present to open is okay, they don't need five.

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Here are more holiday time disasters that too many people fall victim to each season:

Being Rude to Retail Workers

It is not the store employee's fault that the thing you waited too long to buy is now out of stock, or that the checkout lines are too long, or that a shipment won't arrive in time for Christmas. Don't take your stress out on innocent people.

Drinking Too Much at Your Work Christmas Party

Christmas parties are meant to be fun, but if you go overboard and make a drunken fool of yourself, people will be talking about it behind your back for MONTHS...or worse.

Terrible Regifting

Regifting isn't a bad thing if it's done in a non-obvious and purposeful way, but if you forget to buy your brother a gift and give him the present you got from Aunt Marge last year that still has your name on the tag, you just messed up. Big time.  (Unless it’s given as a gag gift. Those are fair game and, honestly, encouraged.)

I guess the moral of this story is: stop stressing, don't be a grouch, and please don't down a bottle of Titos at the office Christmas party this year.

Go forth and be merry, Illinois. You’ve got this.