Today's problem is how people see the holidays now versus what it used to be. What makes it worse is when people pretend they know what is the best way to spend Christmas when in all reality, they are completely clueless. Hit the link to find out what I mean...
I thought I complained about the amount of money that is spent on Christmas now, it's gotten ridiculous. My parents never made a ton of money when I was growing up, but we weren't poor either. And before I go further on this let me make it very clear, I have absolutely no complaint about any Christmas that I had as a child. I had everything I needed and a few things that I wanted. But from what I was able to tell Christmas cost my parents roughly $50 total for each me and my brother ($100 total). That includes filling the stockings and all presents. Watch commercials now and a $125 gadget is a stocking stuffer! Who has that kind of money to throw away? Send some of it to me please! And that's the root of the complaint I have, the average American spends something like $800 on Christmas. Why are we spending so much? Simply put, advertisements are driving us to think that we need to spend a lot on a gift in order for people to feel we've shown we care. And Americans tend to completely fall for what marketers tell us.
So what was I referring to in the opening with people being completely clueless? Too many people think that the opposite extreme to spending a ton of money, spending nothing at all, is the answer. They believe that what should happen is that you should get together, just talk, and possibly eat. That's all fine and dandy if you regularly hang out with these people and have a lot to talk about. But let us be a little realistic here, do you really spend all that much time with them? And what would make this different than having a meal with them in say June? You guessed it, nothing but the weather. It's the exact same thing except that, at least here in the US, June is warm and you aren't dealing with the potential for a huge snow storm.
What's my suggestion? Pretty simple, reduce how much you spend on gifts. It's easy to do really, just put a limit on how much you are willing to spend on gifts for each person. We've had a rule for a long time of $10 for each sibling, $10 for each niece/nephew, and $20 for each parent. It was very difficult for my wife at first because she was used to spending a lot more, but she adapted quickly and it's actually made our holiday much better overall because the gifts have meaning! The real point of a gift isn't to show how much you've spent on someone, it's to show how much you care about the person by getting them something that fits their personality. It doesn't mean anything to someone if you spend $100 on a gift for them that they will never use, but spend $10 on something that they will cherish for the rest of their lives and it's worth more to them than if you spent $1000. That is supposed to be the point of a gift, to show you care. And that's why I have no complaints about my Christmases as a child, the gifts had meaning.
That's the point the people I was referring to in the opening are missing. Yes, the holiday season is about spending time with family and friends. And the amount of money spent on gifts has gotten way out of control. Perhaps a "new" song should be added to everyone's Christmas playlist, The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love, just as a reminder that the amount of money spent doesn't directly correlate with the amount someone loves you. But without a gift showing you care enough to search for something that fits their personality, it's just another get together. And if you can't be bothered to get together with me in the warmth of June or any other time of the year, I'd rather not waste my time driving in potentially horrible weather to see you in December...
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