Tell Everyone You are Poor for the Holidays
If you want to spend less this holiday season, tell everyone you’re poor.
Tell them your stock tanked, your mortgage went up, or something else. If you don’t want to lie, you can just talk vaguely about the economy and then suggest a dollar cap on gifts.
Seriously, everyone has to get it together for the holidays this year. My apologies to the retailers, but you need to get and keep your house in order during tough times. Not feel bad for companies’ lower profit margins and possible extinction. There doesn’t need to be a Circuit City and a Best Buy. Two is one too many for big box electronics. I don’t even know how Radio Shack manages to stay in business year after year, but they do. Maybe the other retailers could take a tip or two from them.
Spending huge amounts of cash you don’t have to give gifts to people is just silly. No one wants you cleaning out your bank account so you can put eight-hundred presents under the tree. Really. Your kids might, but then you may want to think about hitting the dollar store if the pile is what they crave.
My stepdaughter got so many gifts for Christmas last year, I was blown away. From a Wii to a light-up ant farm from the discovery store, she not only got a whole bunch of gifts – they were expensive gifts. My girls will never get a Wii for Christmas – I can tell you that with a surety that comes from wanting to teach them what Christmas is about.
Not colored lights. Not the baby Jesus. I want to teach them the sociological ramifications of being able to convince billions of people to give a damn about others once a year…and how it inevitably backfires because people end up shopping to feel the joy of giving the best gift. Or are buying because they feel obligated.
I look forward to shopping with my girls for a family in need. Getting gifts for someone that cannot afford it and will love what you’ve picked out.
What bothers me most about Christmas is that an undue amount of specialness is attached to gifts given on that day. If I want to buy my kid a bike in October, now I have to find a way to one-up that for Christmas? To heck with that.
As the economy slides into the pit of despair, focusing on family and spending time and more homemade gifts is going to take the place of big gifts with bigger price tags – and I’m okay with that.
At least ten people on our list are getting a six-pack of homebrewed beer for Christmas. Nothing says love like homemade alcohol.
If you don’t have time to make homemade (goodness knows I don’t – hubby makes the beer on the weekends) consider getting things that are inexpensive and bring back a great memory. I plan on giving everyone in the family brag books of my girls. Each one will cost about $7 – plus the beer. I also have some Partylite candles that I may or may not ever burn. Tadum! More gifts!
Look around, regift, spend less, and remember the reason for the season…whether that be religious or love-based in your world. Take the emphasis off of “stuff” and use the economy to do it. Whatever works to get you away from your credit cards and moving toward a great big hug.
Comments
5 Responses to “Tell Everyone You are Poor for the Holidays”
Got something to say?
-
-
-
My Favorite Charities
MommyBlog Reviews (& Giveaways!)Joining: A Chance to Lead
. 
. 
. 
Link Love
. 
. 
. 
WORD UP.
We always go sort of small for the holidays. Correction: We try to go meaningful. And thankfully, we don’t have the sort of family where everyone has to get something. We buy for who is in front of us. I’ve never put a Christmas gift on a credit card. If I don’t have the cash, I don’t buy it. If it doesn’t make me laugh or cry or hurl, I don’t buy it. My holiday is about the dinner, about the lights, about the wide-eyed wonder in my kids eyes that morning. That’s what it SHOULD be.
Do you make reindeer food? Best. Gift. Ever. I can tell you how.
A couple of weeks ago I sent an email to those members of my family that would be on my gift-giving list. Since I’d just purchased a house a couple of months ago, things are a bit tight. I suggested that spending quality time with the family would be more memorable than the gifts.
I was just very open and said I would like to forego the exchanging of gifts between the adults. I heard back from my sister and brother, but haven’t heard anything from my dad and mom. I just hope they’ll accept this and not push it.
There is so much more to Christmas that going in debt to buy expensive gifts or to try and do better than last year. Spend time with family, make memories that will last far longer than the gift.
I just wrote a post about low cost Christmas gifts, too. I’m all for looking around your house and making homemade gifts. I’m also glad my family is doing a secret santa so that I only have to worry about buying a gift for one person and not the entire clan.
great post! The only thing I’d argue with is your use of the word poor–and Jenny, for you and your budgeting, I ask you to stop using it. Poor is a state of mind and implies a permanent situation/social class. “Broke” is a temporary state of your bank account. To attract wealth–or just plentifulness–don’t think about being poor. And certainly don’t use the word aloud or write it down.
I love your sentiments and ideas so please, tell everyone you are broke this year!!
Besides, how can you be poor with two lovely girls and such a positive outlook on the season?
Oh no, I wasn’t saying I was poor. I was saying to tell others you are, specifically becasue of the power of the word. People don’t question it if you say you are poor and you don’t have to explain yourself. It’s good for those non-confrontational types.
But I do see where you are coming from. so…tell people you’re broke, not broken, this year for the holidays
I know what poor looks like and I’m about a million miles away from poor – in so many ways.