The Holidays are Upon Us

[Ree]

And I feel like the Grinch! Already the crass commercialism, the pressure to spend, spend, spend and buy, buy, buy has begun. Seems like businesses believe that if consumers start to spend and buy earlier, they'll continue until the end of the season and spend more in the process.

I have absolutely no desire to rush out and start shopping and it's such a relief! It has taken me several years to get to this point. For a couple years there, I felt terribly guilty for not having a huge pile of expensive presents under a huge expensively decorated tree! I've even begun to look at organized religion as a part of the whole conspiracy to separate folks from their money!

We focus on togetherness with our close family members and on using the free time that the holidays bring to spend a little extra time on meditation and study. Anyone else dealing with those feelings about the holidays? Any ideas on how to get past the season without going crazy?

[Maguru]

I used to love christmas as a child and when my children were young. Now, the spirit of togetherness is almost lost. I'm looking for an alternative way to celebrate or maybe drop it all together.

Originally Posted by Ree

And I feel like the Grinch! Already the crass commercialism, the pressure to spend, spend, spend and buy, buy, buy has begun. Seems like businesses believe that if consumers start to spend and buy earlier, they'll continue until the end of the season and spend more in the process.

I have absolutely no desire to rush out and start shopping and it's such a relief! It has taken me several years to get to this point. For a couple years there, I felt terribly guilty for not having a huge pile of expensive presents under a huge expensively decorated tree! I've even begun to look at organized religion as a part of the whole conspiracy to separate folks from their money!

We focus on togetherness with our close family members and on using the free time that the holidays bring to spend a little extra time on meditation and study. Anyone else dealing with those feelings about the holidays? Any ideas on how to get past the season without going crazy?

[Pegasus]

I deal with this every year! The past couple of years it has been easy for me not to overspend because I have been a student with limited income. Still in transition. I am unemployed and do not have a stable income (work for two temp agencies and occasionally work as a hostess at a restaurant) so I tell my family not to expect more than token gifts. Or the other idea is to focus on the nieces and nephews, which makes no sense because they have way more than I had growing up.

What to do when you have the money? Most of us already have more than what we need. Time to start some new traditions. Instead of co-worker gifts, just give out greeting cards. Here are some other ideas:

• Sponsor a needy family.

• Decide not to do gifts and travel to a nice beach resort for Christmas.

• Have a regifting party.

• Set monetary limits on spending.

There is a lot of pressure to spend. So many obligations...