What's your spending plan for the holiday season?
Posted at 6:00 AM on November 24, 2009
by Eric Ringham
(14 Comments)
Filed under: Economy
Retailers look forward to the day after Thanksgiving as "Black Friday," when the holiday shopping season kicks off. What's your spending plan for the holiday season?
Comments (14)
How much will I spend? Absolutely nothing. Consumer mania has contributed to the economic disaster. I realized the foolishness of buying useless gifts many many years ago. In the end it changed my entire family's buying habits. One positive contribution from me to the world.
Ho-Ho-Ho.
I like the idea of exchanging gift, but I feel like I am putting myself and family into mammoth stress, so we only focus on the editable stuff –lovin- it.
God beless
One family is making a 2010 calendar of family pictures and one family has drawn names and has a $75 limit. I will not be giving a lot of wrapped presents this year, probably donations to charities. My husband will get a special framed picture.
I am aiming for local, useful, possibly edible, and deeply nerdy wherever applicable.
It's really hard to say, actually. I want to 'tune in, drop out' of the consumer model of buy-use once-toss, largely by buying things that are more expensive but last longer, and by getting things from consignment rather than adding new plastic to the landfill. My family will be getting gifts made by repurposing.
But at the same time, I realize my decision not to buy new products affects the people whose lives and incomes depend on selling those products.
I haven't seen any ads for sales at the one place I had wanted to go, so I might just stay in this year. Or just go people watch.
For more than 30 years, my mother and I have shopped the malls on Black Friday. My mother is unable to shop this year due to a broken hip so we'll sit down in front of the computer and let our fingers do the shopping.
I love giving gifts and don't much care for shopping, especially this time of year. So, I make most of the gifts I give. Yearly favorites are apple sauce, pickled beets and wild plum jelly. What I don't make, I buy at Amazon.com (books, CDs and kids' toys). I sit down with my list and I buy it all in one shot and when the boxes come, I wrap 'em up and I'm done. Gives me time for the things I really love, like festive decorating and time with family and friends. A sane alternative to black friday, dontcha think?
Last year, my siblings and I decided to forego gifts except for the youngest children. I will do as I did last year - make charitable donations in their names.
My husband and I are secure in our jobs, we have no credit card debt, and have money in 401k and "rainy day" savings. It is sad that we are in the minority. We will spend money this Christmas like we have every other Christmas, within our means and with money we already have.
Two years ago there were excellent Black Friday deals. Last year not so much. In fact the sales prices were often no better than regular sales and the best deals were for items you might consider overstock to begin with. Truly deep sales on "good' or "popular" items were far and few between.
So far this year, there have been steady, predictable sales on many goods. And I will not go to stores where they advertise good sales with a "minimum of 10 per store" or
"quantities limited, no rain checks."
Friday is International Buy Nothing Day, I will be going out hiking with family and enjoying their company instead of standing in line like lemmings waiting to jump off the cliff! I really think that irrational reliance on consumerism is a big reason why we are all in this "Great Recession" mess. The few X-mas gifts I will buy this year will be recycled, used books!
Every year I save money in my Holiday Savings Club Account at my credit union so that when the holidays come I don't have to charge anything. This way I can divide the money between gifts, socializing, and giving to charity and there is no guilt involved (i.e. creating a debt load and overspending). The trick is, once the money is gone...it keeps the holidays fun and stress free.
I plan to give women clothes they will not wear, and to give men gift cards they will find too awkward to redeem.
Beans, Bullets, and Band-Aids:-)
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