Suzanne Betrand, Health and Living
As Congress debates whether to rush headlong toward passage of yet another multi-billion dollar stimulus plan before year’s end, we ought to pause and consider canceling Christmas instead. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa ought to go as well.
Certainly, we ought to take time off to observe the holidays as usual. Binge-drinking, over-eating like pigs in slop, making out with interns in the supply closet at office Christmas parties, fighting with visiting relatives you can’t stand, and celebrating all the tradition religious rituals that are part of the season should go forward as originally scheduled. When I say “cancel,” I mean simply ban the buying and giving of gifts.
Before you start believing this is nothing but a Scrooge-like diatribe against the season, consider the fact that the total financial meltdown and recession we are facing in America today is NOT because we spend too little, but rather because we spend too much. As a country, and as a people, we can’t get any more over extended.
According to the National Retail Federation, total holiday sales for 2008 are projected to equal $470 billion dollars. Can you say “WTF?” Believe me when I tell you that in these financial times, there are about seven or eight people in the United States with enough money to rub two nickles together much less spend $470 billion on Christmas presents. There is one way, and only one way, Americans are going to spend that amount of money on gifts to each other, and that’s by borrowing big-time on their Amex and Visa and going further into debt.
Which makes it all the more strange that the government is now considering whether to pass not one, but two, more “stimulus” spending plans on top of the $150 billion package passed last Spring to “boost the economy” over the next few months.
Just how does this work? The government, which is now over $10 trillion in debt, and will face an almost $1 trillion budget deficit next year, is preparing to borrow several hundred billion more to . . . to . . . get more people to spend more money. The reasoning is that when people start spending again, the economy will get moving again, and we will all live happily ever after . . . again.
The trouble is all of this borrowing and spending and borrowing and spending and borrowing and spending is like a Dr. Strangelovian arms race, and it’s no way to end the war. Think of the logic: we have to spend money we don’t have, otherwise we won’t have money to spend what we don’t have.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace. A time to put down arms. The best way to call a “truce” is for all of us – every single one of us – to join hands and declare an armistice on gift giving, and actually save $470 billion this year. “Save.” Now there’s a word you don’t see much of anymore. A socio-economic linguistic study was done by Harvard Professor Richard Keller in 2006 in which it was determined that the phrase “save money” has not been uttered in America since a man named Ernest Styles said it to his son on August 26, 1959. (Look it up).
The only problem with this gift-ban solution to our financial crisis and savings dilemma is the probability that one lousy individual — one single uncaring, selfish American hiding within the 300 million among us – will break down, break ranks, and give in to the temptation to buy a gift for a small child, a grandmother, or a loved one during the holiday season. That one, seemingly generous but disastrous act would unfortunately set off a doomsday-type chain reaction where it becomes irresistible for another to give, and then another, and then another, and before you know it, it is snowing, it is Christmas, and we are all $470 billion further in the hole.
We are doomed, it would seem, to shop till we drop.
Copyright The Saturday Morning Post 2008 – All Rights Reserved
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people without bachelors degrees–and an unnerving number of people with them–working retail who’ll be in deep trouble if they start getting laid off cos no one’s doing Christmas shopping. Most stores depend on this time of year to get in the black.
I hate my crappy cashier job but it’s better than nothing.
OK, OK, Rebecca. All consumer traffic will be diverted to your store, and your store alone. But if you are working that crappy cashier job just to make money to buy presents for others, then you need to quit and join the revolution.
SMP
I adopted this philosophy a few years back and have never regretted (although I broke down once, due to some dolt buying something and it set off a chain reaction … had to buy for everyone. That’s what happens when you are raised a catholic… guilt gets you every time.)
I do not buy Christmas gifts. No one. No exceptions. No, nothing for the family (OK, it helps that I am not married with kids). I also specifically advise that I will not accept, or expect, any gifts. I am a big girl, I can buy my own stuff thanks – don’t need another crappy gift that I have no use for and which you just bought to tick me off your list.
I don’t even buy gifts for children. Shock. Horror. They are usually bombarded with gifts from everyone else, so don’t notice I haven’t given them one (they have an attention span of a goldfish so won’t remember anyway).
As I am not in debt for half the year due to xmas gifts, I buy decent birthday gifts, so I still keep retailer workers employed
Anne: You da’ man. Or Wo-man. Whatever. A profile in courage is what you are.
SEP
WOW Anne you are cheap and nasty!! It’s called save the money before the Holiday’s and pay cash…..DUH Novel concept.
We’re thinking you just fell off Anne’s X-mas list.
SEP
What about using money you have, and setting a budget? It’s wild and fun. I’m not even being cute — this is the first year I have actually stayed within budget, and it has forced me to be more creative, logical and practical. Sure, I still spent $60 on possibly-hideous, gold-sparkle-dusted fake poinsettias, but it was $60 I had set aside.
I also have been buying gifts mainly through others — those silly little housewife businesses that force you to sit through catty “parties”, where afterward, the talk is about who’s gotten fat, not about the plastic wares (with lids!) for sale. But hey, if it gives my friend $3 so she can have that cranberry-scented Santa she so desperately needs, why not spend money there?
“Previously enjoyed” toys are also great if you have pre-schoolers or toddlers, for whom Christmas is more about lights, wrapping paper and surprises than it is “proper” commerical toys. If they don’t know the difference, there’s no need to feel guilty for not getting that Singing Elmo doll (that you pointedly avoid every time you go into Wal Mart). No guilt. Just relief.
And if you’re a woman, and you’re married, I guarantee there’s a long list of juicy, delicious things you can give your husband, if you know what I mean. (I mean, of course, Christmas baking — what were YOU thinking?!)
Those are ways I’m going to spend (har) my Holidays this year. The gifts of practicality, generosity, “special cookies” and annoying platitudes are the best gifts anyhow.
Kelly: you need to take this advice show on the road. Way too well thought out. We’re calling PBS on your behalf.
SEP
I don’t think we can stop people from shopping, but we can shop smarter. Support the local stores, but if you need to save, shop online. And don’t forget to research deal at sites like fatwallet.com and use online coupons from sites like definitivedeals.com Just my $0.02.
There you go, Sandy. Spending money already, even if it is only two cents. Stick with the program, please.
SEP
As I don’t have a Xmas list… WOW doesn’t have to worry about coming off it
[as if WOW did in the first place!]
I am not cheap and nasty! [says in a miffed voice]
Evidence?
- Sponsor 3 children via Unicef > cancels out “nasty”
- Buy good birthday gifts ($50+) > cancels out “cheap”
back to the blog and posts …
- savings + budget > used to be able to do with ease but found the more I earned, the less money I saved. Am sure there is a some law of physics/chemistry to explain this.
oh wait, that might not work.
- Buy local and online > sometimes cheaper to buy the product OS rather than local!
- recycling > am liking this idea. Maybe I can package up my old stuff and give away as gifts? So I lose the cheap and nasty tag
Merry Christmas everyone! Won’t be able to buy you gifts (the postage alone would kill me – am in Oz) but wish you the best.
And a very Merry X-mas to you too. We thinky we likey you.
SEP
This suggestion of not spending a dime this Christmas season is just crazy. What would you hope to achieve by asking every American to sit at home during the Holidays instead of going out shopping? Financial chaos? A complete meltdown of the economy? Because I assure you that this is what would ensue if Americans heeded your advice. While there is no doubt that Americans have gotten way over their skis in the past few decades, America remains a country fueled by consumption. In fact, close to 70% of America’s GDP is attributable to consumption. What all Americans could benefit from is some strict financial discipline after the lessons of the housing crisis. An increase in saving is no doubt necessary for the health of the U.S. but a complete shutoff is only a recipe for disaster.
Satire: A manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit and humor in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several other techniques are almost always present. …
SMP
@”This suggestion of not spending a dime this Christmas season is just crazy.”
true. yes, satire is crazy. I am pretty sure that this article was not going to stop all Xmas spending. Through the use of exaggeration, it does make a valid point. Which is that as a country we don’t have money to shop with. This is how I measure my ability to spend beyond the necessities: 1) have I met all my necessities (rent, food, health insurance and copay sinking fund, clothing–which I have more than I need of)? For me, yes.
Ok, how about future needs that can only be met by present outlays? For me, these are:
Do I have, or am I on track to have with current income, A decent reserve fund in case I lose work or have another emergency. –(I happen to have this, but it really should be 5x the size, which it will be within one year)
Do I have, or am I on track to have with current income, a fully funded retirement savings so that I can live for 30 years off of it once I turn 70.– Oops, no, I don’t have that either. Actually, I am not on track to meet this, as I need to double the money I put toward this in order to meet my goal (assuming I can contribute until I am 70) since I am unwilling to rely on social programs for this and currently have no children either. This means doubling my take home income. Which I have a reasonable, though not sure , chance to be able to do from my current $25K of income.
So, as I go down this mental checklist, I see that I really have no money to spend outside of the above budget. I am guessing that about 97.9% of Americans fit in the same boat. As an individual, it might be better if as many of them as possible keep spending so my job/business can employ me, but for me, I will be following the plan above. Which means no additional discretionary spending until I am on track to meeting these goals, which means making 2x what I currently make. Until I make more than that, there is very little shopping beyond necessities for me.
Thanks for your input, though!
You are our hero of the week. If everyone thought like you, the U.S. would have a savings rate so large we could buy China, and we mean the country, not the plates.
SMP
@ Rebecca: Since you need your job to pay the rent, I will make sure to shop at your store when I am doing my weekly shopping. You can Email me at your convenience and let me know where.
–steve from the post above
Um, she lives on Bainbridge Island, Seattle, so forget about it. The gas to get there and the ferry charge will absolutely blow your budget (above).
SMP
I say shop, save and all without the drop. There are great after holiday clearances and New Year inspired bargains to be found. I save gas, my time, skip the lines, shop late @ night and always use that promo code box. My last purchase was with 20% savings at Finish Line. I bought brand new closeout priced shoes for the family. I found the discount by searching Google and clicking on couponseven.com.