The Party Is Over

[Ethel]

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Someone in my family starts asking 'what are we going to do for Christmas this year?' - as soon as the summer holidays are over.

I finally plucked up the courage to tell her the other day 'To be honest, I don't give a flying ****. As long as the kids get some presents, who cares? I don't give a monkey's what we have for Christmas dinner because we're in the lucky position of eating well all year. We don't need a feast, we have a feast every day. I am not going to buy into this 'Christmas is magic, let's spend a fortune on it nonsense' - I'm sick of it. The only good thing about it is that for one measly day, people concentrate on something other than work and spending money. Although, of course, they've worked like dogs for months to get the money they spend to enjoy that one, wonderful, precious day.

I seem to have turned into Scrooge.

Not at all. I think it's a fabulous attitude.

My family have a gathering of 15-20 people every year, and in the past everybody bought a gift (or gifts) for everyone else, well multiply that out and think about it for a moment.

Half the gifts were unwanted anyway. You try buying a gift for great uncle Fred who's housebound, deaf, tee-total and diabetic. He only spends his time watching the horseracing and doing crosswords. He used to get 10 crossword books, 5 dictionaries and 15 racing almanacs every year.

So anyway, last year we decided that enough was enough so we did a secret Santa and each person received just one gift, to the value of around £20.00.

It was the best Christmas we'd had in years because for once it was about the family occasion and spending time with one another rather than just about a huge pile of presents.

[Ethel]

I really hope Christmas gets downsized as a result of this crisis.

Each year it starts earlier and earlier, and it's at the point where we get solid Christmas marketing and advertising from November 6th through to December 25th. I find it really disgusting and insipid.

My grandad is a bit of a sarcastic old bugger, and one year he noticed the staff in the local supermarket putting out the Christmas stuff in September, and he strode up to them bellowing "Excuse me! Do you have any Easter eggs in stock yet?"

[interestrateripoff]

Capitalism has ended it's now debtalism.

Edited October 11, 2008 by interestrateripoff

[eightiesgirly]

Not at all. I think it's a fabulous attitude.

My family have a gathering of 15-20 people every year, and in the past everybody bought a gift (or gifts) for everyone else, well multiply that out and think about it for a moment.

Half the gifts were unwanted anyway. You try buying a gift for great uncle Fred who's housebound, deaf, tee-total and diabetic. He only spends his time watching the horseracing and doing crosswords. He used to get 10 crossword books, 5 dictionaries and 15 racing almanacs every year.

So anyway, last year we decided that enough was enough so we did a secret Santa and each person received just one gift, to the value of around £20.00.

It was the best Christmas we'd had in years because for once it was about the family occasion and spending time with one another rather than just about a huge pile of presents.

We had our first family Christmas when we had no money whatsoever, since that time we have always had a frugal christmas with the emphasis on a 'holiday' atmosphere,. We have fun being together, board and card games ,each person chooses a telly program for the rest of us to endure. Gifts are small personal or fun items and our tree is decorated with ornaments that all have a meaning, many having been hand made at different times in the kid's lives. It's more about what we each bring to occasion rather than what we take from it.

[Guest sillybear2]

Christmas could be a tipping point of sorts. Not an Earth-shattering, politician-lynching one but a sobering one. A paradigm shift as they say in academia. Like the end of the phony war in 1940 where people realized how serious things really were. If money (and credit) is tight its going to be a miserable Christmas for many which helps to shift people's thinking.

So the inability to spend money on worthless sh1t will make Christmas miserable? That alone says a lot.

[symo]

Remember what they told you about Santa when you were little?

TBH, it's quite funny that hardly anyone goes to church but insist on celebrating this winter festival. So no money for useless chinese tat this year, big deal.

[Mr Prudence]

We had our first family Christmas when we had no money whatsoever, since that time we have always had a frugal christmas with the emphasis on a 'holiday' atmosphere,. We have fun being together, board and card games ,each person chooses a telly program for the rest of us to endure. Gifts are small personal or fun items and our tree is decorated with ornaments that all have a meaning, many having been hand made at different times in the kid's lives. It's more about what we each bring to occasion rather than what we take from it.

You are one of the Waltons and I claim my prize

[Errol]

each person chooses a telly program for the rest of us to endure

And how is this fun, exactly?

Edited October 11, 2008 by Errol