Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Twelve Weeks 'til Christmas!

I enjoyed my friend's post today:

This has been on my mind lately. I don't have children, but I have plenty of people I'd like to buy gifts for. I love buying gifts! And I'd be lying if I said I've never used my credit card at Christmas time. But even if I could afford to, what is necessary? What is too much? There is such a thing as generosity, but there is also such a thing as encouraging materialism and over-indulgence. My family has always kept it very simple at Christmas, and although it hasn't always been easy to watch the majority of my peers rake in the cash and prizes, I've grown to appreciate my parents' way of doing things. Although I'll probably always be tempted to overspend in the name of generosity, I'd like to follow their model of 'giving in moderation'. It's nice to see other families keeping it simple, too.

2 comments:

steve and randel hambrick said...

thanks for the props! can't wait to hear peoples thoughts..
i agree with yours- it's tough, huh?

Pink Sun Drops said...

Gah. Christmas KILLS me. I've been buying a few gifts at a time for friends that I KNOW I will break down and buy for at the last minute :D . Buying them ahead of time allows me to buy things they'll enjoy and use on clearance for $3-5, versus the $25 I'd end up spending on them at the last minute. I need to get a tad more aggressive with that and I could probably take care of all my Christmas spending with $100.

However, that does not take care of the kids or Brandon (altho lately we usually do very little, if anything in that department)! I'm beat there. I usually end up asking my mom to fund the kids stockings and gifts because we never save the money. Of course I'm sure that doesn't help her Christmas debt!