How the economy saved Christmas

With the downturn in the economy, the holiday shopping season may seem daunting and nearly impossible to complete. Yet, I think you’ll find that even with the increasingly tight money situation and the Christmas and Hanukkah shopping difficulties caused by the economy, the quality of your holidays will increase exponentially.

Our holidays have been too long seeded with the materialism of our capitalist society and it seems to be getting worse every year. In fact, just last Friday, a man was reportedly trampled to death at a New York Wal-Mart by unruly shoppers. The metal around the door has said to be crumpled like an accordion. Of course this year people want more bargains than ever, but killing people and fighting like animals is not the best way to enjoy the holiday season, nor is it the proper way.

No matter your belief system, we could all agree that the holiday season carries a certain type of magic that doesn’t come from the mad rush of holiday sales or from the Black Friday bargains. The best part about the season is that people get to spend time together, attempting to stay warm during the coldest, darkest part of the year. Plus, you get to eat great food guiltlessly and drink hot chocolate incessantly without judgment.

The worry over the economy has even spread to the children. In a recent study, the NODE RESEARCH company found that 84 percent of America’s 39 million 9-to-17-year-olds are very or somewhat worried about current economic conditions. So, according to this study, the majority of kids are aware of the dire straits of our economy and know that they won’t be receiving a Wii or laptop under the Christmas tree this year. If kids can understand what’s going on, then either we’re all in denial or we have to gear up to moving onto other Christmas present ideas.

Instead of falling into the rut of the capitalist Christmas when strapped for cash, consider some alternatives. Maybe this year you make cookies for people or actually spend time with your family. If you think about it, not only is giving gifts more creative than buying the latest PS3 game, but it actually takes more time.

Consider it; if your destination is Target and you want to buy the latest Guitar Hero, you go to the store, buy the product and you’re in and out in under an hour. If you make cookies, you could be looking at up to two hours of present time, not to mention any bundling up and decorating you might do to the package after it’s done. Presto! You have a nice Christmas present that cost you less than $10 that you can give to many different people. What you have spent instead of a lot of cash is your time, which is more valuable than the amount you could have spent anyway.

Another great solution to avoiding the Christmas money/present crunch is to do something good for someone else. According to the Associated Press, more people are donating money to charities in family and friends’ names instead of buying them presents. What better gift is there than knowing that the money wasn’t spent on something you’ll grow tired of in a day, but that it’s going to a family who might not have warm winter clothing?

Furthermore, you could actually avoid spending money all together and just spend time with your family and friends. Maybe you volunteer at a soup kitchen or for the Salvation Army. Or maybe you just sit around together and play games.

I think you’ll find that even without presents, as Dr. Seuss once said, “It came without packages, boxes or bags” you’ll still have a happy holiday season just spending time with your family. It may sound a little cheesy, but you’ll find that this Christmas will bring back that feeling you had when you were little. Even though it was only presents that you cared about then, the magic of Christmas and the holiday season will come back to you.