Why No One Should Buy Presents This Year
Last week, Black Friday heralded the unofficial kickoff of the 2008 winter holiday shopping frenzy. Despite the economic chill in the air and the Ghost of Christmas Future in our peripheral vision, determined consumers gathered to snag special deals from anxious retailers who opened stores as early as 12:01 a.m. for these stoic souls. While it appears that sales have gotten off to a robust start, analysts warn holiday buying enthusiasm may fade once doorbuster deals peter out. Hallelujah!
Call me Scrooge if you want, but I think that no one should buy holiday presents this year. Materialism has been on a rampage for too long in this country- it deserves a time-out and we deserve an extended vacation from it. There's something really wrong with how the holiday season has been transformed from communal celebration into gift competition. Is there anything more valuable in life than our time and what we choose to do with it? The last thing I feel like using mine up on is running around searching for presents that are supposed to prove my love.
This year my goal is to be present instead of giving presents. My focus for the holiday season is to have fun and connect with loved ones instead of worrying about what to buy everyone. There isn't a single material thing I've ever received that could compare to time well-spent with friends. Though I've been nurturing this philosophy for years it's a particularly gratifying belief right now because it's become so socially acceptable. As the economic downturn affects us all there has been a perceptible shift in American sentiment towards acquisition. This year it's finally cool to give from the heart instead of the wallet, and I say hooray!
A shining example of promoting a return to tradition was Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode-- her focus was on bringing real meaning back to the holidays. While some people grumbled that the thriftiness of the show was depressing, I found it refreshing that she challenged people to actually think about meaning and authenticity. And check out a website called www.NoChristmasGiftsThisYear.com- it helps you create fun, customizable e- cards to send to friends and relatives that offer them the gift of time instead of money.
This year Americans are planning to spend an average of $431 on gifts for the holiday season. This is down almost 50% from 2007, an indicator of just how tight times are getting. So why not declare a no-gift Christmas/ Chanukah/ Kwanzaa, etc. and save your money for a better use than presents which decorate the basement? The act of emphasizing creativity, thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit this holiday season is a win/win situation: it yields both great personal dividends and helps keep your bank account positive.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Been doing so for years, and enjoying the season much more for it. Besides the freedom to do as I actually want rather than scramble and juggle to afford the "right" gifts, there's the satisfaction of not contributing to petrol-fueled manufacturing and transport to market of, frankly, a lot of worthless disposable plastic crap.
My loved ones and I have agreed NOT to exchange gifts this year; my brother is starting a business, our parents are retired and on fixed incomes, my sweetie has been ill and in the hospital and unable to work much, and I've been on a cash basis since my second marriage ended in divorce 3.5+ years ago. (I don't have kids.) I just don't see the sense in running around, agonizing over what to get people, and feeling bad because it might not be "enough" (whatever that means).
The incident at that WalMart is precisely why I WON'T shop on Black Friday.
donvey lindsey focus on the spirit of the holidays
Since I work for commission at a retail establishment, if people do not buy sewing machines that I sell, then I cannot afford to buy plane tickets to see my grandkids at Easter. It means that I can't afford to pay for my housecleaner, which means that she can't afford to help her daughter out with daycare so that she can persue a degree. It means that we won't be eating out and so my local restaurant might go out of business.
This kind of thinking sounds great, but it hurts us all in the end.
bummer. some of us never COULD afford to buy plane tickets, or a house cleaner.
Sorry, but I cannot feel sorry for your.
Our Christmas last year, I gave my husband a box of Cheeios, some new underwear and socks, and a four-pack of spam. He got me a can of peaches, some new socks and underwear, and my favorite cereal. We gave our son a package of dry erase pens, a box of band-aids, and some aveeno bath packs to help his exzema. We didn't feel sorry for ourselves--it was a great time. Our son was 2 1/2, and he was so excited that it warmed our hearts. This year, we will do something very similar. We also make a point to always get a dollar or two over when we purchase our groceries, and let our son put it in the Salvation Army pot. We are teaching him that Christmas is about giving, and about surprises. Neither my husband nor I have any particular wants or needs for Christmas, and his needs are so simple. I would not like it if he spent our money on something neither of us really needs, and we pretty much already buy the stuff we want when we want it.
My husband works for a retail establishment for around 12 bucks and hour, but he sells something he believes in---books. We clean our own house. We don't travel, because we have everything we need at home.
huh.
About five years out of college I started to boycott Christmas gift giving, seeing the absurdity of it all and witnessing how it depresses people instead of making them feel happy.
Nowadays, since people I know continue to get all wrapped up [pun intended] in gift giving, I simply stay home and don't attend the family functions.
It's kind of Scroogish of me, but not completely since I still enjoy December.
The absurdity of the holidays is perhaps most evident in the fact that every year the same old stories are mentioned on the news. Lines forming at stores, the must have gift of the year, people pulling out plastic to charge gifts, food and gift drives, lines at post office getting long, lines at the airport getting long, Christmas shows repeated, crimes committed during the holidays, people losing the meaning of Christmas, black Friday, cyber Monday, wrapping tips, cooking tips, gift tips, craft tips, and so on.
If I was Dictator for Life of the U.S. I would restrict Christmas to happening every two years and the word Christmas cannot be mentioned until the day after Thanksgiving. Eventually I would ban gift giving of any item that cost more than $50, no exceptions, unless one uses cash for the purchase [no cash advances either.]
So there.
Devout Christians have been warning us about the overcommercialization for Christmas for decades. We could learn a lot from them.
I agree with you; however, I do not think you have to be a devout Christian to see how ridiculous, commercial and greed laden our holiday season has become. There are wise people from all walks of life we can learn valuable lessons from.
I totally agree, I am trying to make all of my presents, and I am making most of them out of supplies that I already have by using old material or remaking old clothes into new things. I am using patterns I downloaded free off the intertubes -www.burdastyle.com is a great site for a variety of free patterns- I am making fobs, makeup bags and cloth grocery bags for my friends.
Yeah makin' stuff!
I've always done the "gift from the heart" with my children for Grandparents. This year that is expanding to everyone. I told one of my, now former, friends (who's not being impacted as much as I during the current crisis) and she basically called me cheap. There are going to be people out there that are going to think people think they're cheap and still spend money they don't have, "pride". I look at my "cheap" presents as a way to show people that we're being responsible and the satisfaction of KNOWING we're being responsible. I'm all for a No-Gift-Xmas.... I LOVE crafts... not a real problem for me. But for those people who can't get off their butts and not watch TV, it's easier said than done.
I totally agree with Kira. And since our rampant, out of control consumerism is the main cause of loss of habitat for many animals, why not adopt an animal as a gift and give back to nature at the same time?
http://www.worldwildlife.org/ogc/index.cfm
How refreshing! I grew up with a grandma born in 1884 and she bought for no one (Except for a 25 cent doll for me one year and at the age of 50 still sits in my bedroom and means more than words can express). People have forgotten how to be neighbors and how to help others. It's all about ME! We are in for a huge wake up call and it's time for all of us to think "What will mom, dad, or aunt and uncle appreciate me doing for them? My folks both in their 80"s have already hinted, mom wants her kitchen cabinets cleaned and dad wants me to go fishing with him. Having been laid off 2 wks ago I'm trying to think of others that I can give my time to instead of spending money I don't have.
My God!!! Kira!!!
Finally someone wrote something I wanted to read for a long time. Let's stop the buying sickness for the holidays. But you knou what? The business people will star to make people feel guilt for not spending.
But it would be very nice to have a Crhistmas where people give themselves. Their time and care. No material gifts, only from the heart. Amem!!
Yes, it is all amatter of giving something., rather than nothing...because people never forget when you forget them. The price of the present these days doesn't matter. Pleople just want to know you thought of them. You can make cookies and wrap them in red clear paper and tie them with a bow and the reaction is the same as a receiving a diamond to some people. It's all relative.
2 people shot and one trampled this year, by bloodthirsty consumerists out on a spree. How;; many people will be trampled next year?
The maddening thing is that these people are so enraptured by a price break on plastic junk from China that they'll use for a week before it breaks.
Perhaps a good way to eschew materialism is to sell ones computer and get off the grid?
In the meantime, I have many elderly relatives who I look forward to giving small tokens of my affection this holiday season (could be their last one!). That is in addition to the TIME I already spend with them throughout the year.
I don't have to feel guilty about neglecting them in lieu of a gift.
To not give a child a gift (even a good book) just doesn't make ANY sense to me.
Kira, I love your posts, but to this I must respectfully say : Ba-HUMBUG!
I must gift my loved ones for Christmas. I will just be shopping smarter, taking the spending of Christmas past OUT of Christmas future. I have become very good at budget shopping, and its a skill everyone can acquire. Check The Recessionista blog to learn how: therecessionista.blogspot.com
Santa is coming to my house, Recession or not!
Viva La RECESSIONISTANCE!
MH, The Recessionista Blog, not to be confused with Scroodge!
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
