To start with, here is my Christmas: I have a 9 year old plastic tree I paid 12 bucks for that gets put up every year, with ornaments the same age on it. I solved the Xmas present problem years ago with 3 little words: Walmart gift certificate. A gift certificate can be picked up any time through the year when the money is there and given as a present. Sounds callous, right? Here is the logic behind it.
I avoid having to deal with shopping. I can purchase everything at the counter in one whack, or through the year if money is tight. If you stop and consider all the sales tax with each purchase, YOU are paying the cost that you can pass on to the recipient. Sounds bad, but in fact it causes them to use their brain and think about how to spend their money. Also, they get what they want, not a useless gift that they will have to store, dispose of or return for a refund.
It also eliminates the need for wrapping, a huge waste creator. It eliminates driving around from store to store, a fuel waster. It eliminates time and effort on your part and more importantly, that is what people want.
Several problems solved. And don't give me that joy of Xmas crap, because at my age it is just a pain in the ass. Not to mention driving from store to store on slick winter roads and the safety issues involved.
It also eliminates what I consider the biggest bugaboo at Xmas, the idiotic consumerist pandemic in the stores. If everyone did as I did, there would be no Black Friday, because the need would be gone. By reinventing the methodology of buying, it would force stores to change the way they manage their sales year to year; in the long run, it would actually save money, because they wouldn't have to stockpile masses of stuff at a certain time and period.
Add to that a set of solar Xmas lights which i might invest in this year, which is as festive as I get. String of 100 colored lights about 20 bucks. I can handle that.
Saving money, saving time, saving resources. I think its a pretty good plan.
I only buy a gift for my sister. The rest of the family is gone, and I'm single. I hate buying presents as I rarely feel inspired by the consumer products I see in stores. When I do feel inspired (you know, when you see something that a certain person will really like), then I'll happily buy a gift for a friend. Of course, me being inspired doesn't mean anyone else will like the gift. So much for being inspired, I guess. :-k
That whole christmass shopping bit has always been a major life stressor. I would typically do it all starting on 12/23. Now I am in a no-gifts agreement with those on my prior list, and as it turnse out, they wer all streesed out over thet nonsense too. (big surprise).
The worst part was the music.
BAH! HUMBUG!
I leave that shopping to my wife. Call me a male chauvinist pig. In my defense, there are no gifts on my side of the family. I have that kind of understanding with my sisters and their kids (my nephews and nieces). So all the gift giving are on my wife's side of the family.
We don't. I have one person to buy for, a friend. That's it. It is a major life stressor, indeed, and for what?
I don't bother with any of it. I buy nothing and expect nothing. It's a depressing time for me so I more or less do my best to avoid the whole mess.
I still want to talk to friends and family, but they know I'm not going 'shopping' for junk they don't need and I can't afford..
Quote from: "josephpalazzo"I leave that shopping to my wife. Call me a male chauvinist pig..
One time we had to buy a gift for someone who was retiring from where I worked. For some reason, the responsibility for choosing and buying the gift was drifting in my direction. I'm really not good at the "choosing a gift part", but it seems to me that many women I know are very good at this sort of thing (I'm often amazed at women's creativity in that regard, anyway), so I suggested to one of the women that she figure out what to get this guy, and I'd go out and do the shopping. The woman was actually a good friend of mine, but she was a feminist. Now I'm all for feminism, up to a point, I suppose, but that suggestion when over like a ton of bricks. She got really pissed at me stereotyping women, and I wished I had never brought it up. I ended up doing the whole thing, although everyone chipped in with the money, of course.
I wasn't trying to get out of doing anything. Mostly, I just thought someone else (most likely one of the women) could do it much better than me. I'll never make that suggestion again. Oh well. :oops:
You probably bare a striking resemblance to Rush and brought out the inner Feminazi[sup:26m1wtq6]TM[/sup:26m1wtq6] in her. :lol:
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"You probably bare a striking resemblance to Rush and brought out the inner Feminazi[sup:2wm12mpb]TM[/sup:2wm12mpb] in her. :lol:
Good Grief! I hope not.
With my immediate family I'm really big on asking them exactly what they want and going and buying it, often with them. Leaves little to be surprised by Christmas Day, but they get a gift that they actually need/want rather than something that they're going to return.
With the rest of my family, I really, really, really try to find something I know they'll like. But I don't. I have no idea what they like. I guess and heaven knows if I'm anywhere close. Last year, I got them gift cards, but I felt bad about it. Like I half-assed Christmas, which in all honesty, I actually sorta did. This year, I'm kinda torn between both approaches. I feel like I'm obligated to give them some sort of proper present, but gift cards are a safer bet. I need to get in touch with everybody and figure out what they're really into this year so that it's less of a crapshoot.
In Holland many people, instead of buying expensive gifts that people don't need/want, we tend to play a 'surprise' game where everyone draws tickets with names of the participants, and then they have to buy a small gift and either build something funny or write a funny poem to go with the gift. It cuts down a lot on the 'getting crap you don't want' and increases the fun because even if the gift is dumb it's only a small thing and it comes with a fun evening of people reading poems and unpacking the weirdest gifts and wrappings.
It's also pretty affordable because you generally only pay 10-20$ for gift+craftwork and you only have to build one.
I find it to be a pretty fun way to handle the evening :)
My ex and I went on a Christmas Ski vacation with another couple years ago. The other couple decided we should exchange gifts on Christmas morning, but that no gift could cost more than 10 cents. It may have been a quarter. I can't remember for sure. Adjusted for inflation say 50 cents today. I remember getting a rubber eraser and some paper clips. The other couple were more creative than we were. My wife and I were confounded by the rules. Of course, it was not our idea. We were showered by gifts from the other couple who gave us like 5 times more stuff. We felt like cheapskates with our paltry offerings. But never-the-less it was great fun. There may have been more spent on wrapping paper than actual gifts.
And then we hit the ski slope. The other couple surprised us throughout the day. They were carrying pockets full of things like home baked chocolate chip cookies that would be brought out and shared before we got on the chair lift from time to time.
Good memories.
Quote from: "stromboli"If everyone did as I did, there would be no Black Friday, because the need would be gone.
There's been a lot of coverage of Black Friday over here in the UK.
And I still don't get why it exists or what it's about.
Quote from: "Jason78"Quote from: "stromboli"If everyone did as I did, there would be no Black Friday, because the need would be gone.
There's been a lot of coverage of Black Friday over here in the UK.
And I still don't get why it exists or what it's about.
Even the name, Black Friday, sounds like a stock market crash.
Quote from: "Plu"In Holland many people, instead of buying expensive gifts that people don't need/want, we tend to play a 'surprise' game where everyone draws tickets with names of the participants, and then they have to buy a small gift and either build something funny or write a funny poem to go with the gift. It cuts down a lot on the 'getting crap you don't want' and increases the fun because even if the gift is dumb it's only a small thing and it comes with a fun evening of people reading poems and unpacking the weirdest gifts and wrappings.
It's also pretty affordable because you generally only pay 10-20$ for gift+craftwork and you only have to build one.
I find it to be a pretty fun way to handle the evening :)
Right. This is a sensible way to approach the issue. The U.S. is so steeped in crass consumerism and so controlled by big business through their methods of gigantic sales and mass marketing, that people have literally become sheep.
I usually just make gifts for people....everyone loves a nice, warm scarf in their favorite color. :) Or, I'll just buy small things and put them all in a bag together. Gift cards are fucking amazing, though, I agree. $25 at Lowe's or Target or whatever? Awesome. But, I'm an aunt now (married into it) and uh, I'm not very good at toy shopping. Christmas has always been easy for me because I don't go wild with it (wtf, people buy TV's and cars and shit), but now I have to brave the toy aisles.....*shudder*
Quote from: "stromboli"Right. This is a sensible way to approach the issue. The U.S. is so steeped in crass consumerism and so controlled by big business through their methods of gigantic sales and mass marketing, that people have literally become sheep.
[youtube:7rrppwm6]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8fp8ZcYdG4[/youtube:7rrppwm6]
[youtube:4hpvgd14]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQO-aOdJLiw[/youtube:4hpvgd14]
[youtube:1ids52qf]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xL8rE9DT4g[/youtube:1ids52qf]
The likeness is uncanny.....
[youtube:1ids52qf]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPmqP_OGWA[/youtube:1ids52qf]
Quote from: "Smartmarzipan"Writer posted a YouTube video (//http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xL8rE9DT4g)
That's just nuts. People putting their lives in danger at worst and acting like idiots at best... just so they can buy some shit. What's wrong with people? This may be the ugliest side of Christmas I have ever seen.
I was dragged to black Friday shopping by all of the girls in my family
It was...so...horrible :cry:
I'm gonna buy into a coal mine to profit on next 'Black Friday' because I'm pretty sure a lump of coal would go over pretty big. :)
I have young kids. It's fun.
Got gifts to buy for people you don't like? Give the gift that will just suck the air out of the room, COAL! :)
Quote from: "Jason78"Quote from: "stromboli"If everyone did as I did, there would be no Black Friday, because the need would be gone.
There's been a lot of coverage of Black Friday over here in the UK.
Ugh. I was afraid of that. I am officially mortified as an American.
Quote from: "Mermaid"Quote from: "Jason78"Quote from: "stromboli"If everyone did as I did, there would be no Black Friday, because the need would be gone.
There's been a lot of coverage of Black Friday over here in the UK.
Ugh. I was afraid of that. I am officially mortified as an American.
Americans portrayed as stupid consumers of cheap crap in other countries? :shock: Nobody saw that one coming!
I like your thinking. I enjoy getting gift cards to places I may shop, like Jo-anns, or the local shoe store.
I buy presents for my 6 year old, but my husband tells me what he wants and we get it, evety year without fail. I ask for gift cards, or sometimes a specific sewing tool. Everone else gets handmade gifts. Well, even including my daughter and husband. I spend a good two weeks making things like zippered make up pouches for my in laws and cousin, or handmade kanzashi hair flowers. The men get things like bbqing aprons. If I do not have the time to sew a lot, I fall back on homemade candies and chocolates and canned jams and preserves.
Honestly, everyone seems to genuinely appreciate the homemade gifts. Yes, there is still some cost to me. Barrets or combs, thread, ingredients, etc. But usually I can give everyone in my family, including inlaws and cousins, a basket of treats and hand sewn gifts for under 30 bucks total. It takes me more time and effort, but I also feel GOOD about my gifts.
On that note, my husband just bought me a 300 dollar embroidery and sewing machine for Christmas...so consumerism is still there.