Are you spending less on Christmas this year?

by Bob on November 21, 2008

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Are you cutting your Christmas budget this year?

I have been hearing, from various sources, that consumers are planning on spending a lot less this year on Christmas. It is understandable after the difficult year the economy has had.

So, lets make this an informal poll and let me know if you plan on spending less this year.

Article by Bob

Bob enjoys dark chocolate, paying off debt, giving, Foosball, loose-leaf tea, helping people succeed, learning, anything God created, playing guitar, doing things the "long" way, Philippians, excellence, Chick-Fil-A, and making his wife smile. He started ChristianPF in 2007 and has been having a blast ever since. Find him on Facebook & Twitter.

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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

Merna November 21, 2008 at 10:46 am: No, I’m not spending less but I’m spending it more wisely. I have a Christmas account at the credit union and treat it like taxes…….so on November 1st they send me a check for shopping. No credit cards, no debt. But I try to find out what people (adult kids) want before buying.
Sheila November 21, 2008 at 11:19 am: No, actually we may spend a little more, but we have lived frugally for years, and are now reaping the benefit of that. It will be a cash-only Christmas – just as the last several have been. I am so thankful to God for leading us down this path.
Christina November 21, 2008 at 12:33 pm: I actually think we may be spending the same or even more. This is the first year we’ve actually put aside money for Christmas (since we are making substantially more money now than last year – although we’re certainly not rich) and we’re not spending much, but I’m doing a ton of bargain hunting to get the most for our money.
Chris Bradley November 21, 2008 at 1:07 pm: Bob, we will be spending less and Tina and I actually are not going to buy each other anything and use that money to help another family with kids who are struggling. That to us is more important.

I did hear Jamie Allman this morning on 97.1 talk about the malls being packed so if people are spending less, they are still shopping. Will be interesting to see how it goes next Friday.

Chris
Jack Foley November 21, 2008 at 1:40 pm: My household will be spending significantly less on stuff.

Please check out adventconspiracy.org. Watch the 2:37 video. This will give you an idea of where our hearts are.

Very very good stuff.

-jack
Lanna November 21, 2008 at 2:43 pm: Cutting back considerably. Lot’s of handmade Christmas gifts to go around this year & gifts paid with cash like always.
Mark Minnella November 21, 2008 at 4:01 pm: Nope. If I was as broke as I was last Christmas I’d be cutting back on groceries, not presents. This year has been a little better. We may be getting creative with some of the presents but we’re making sure everyone gets somthing.
Matt November 21, 2008 at 4:01 pm: We’re spending about the same, we started an automatic savings for Christmas gifts this year so we’re not hurting.
Redonno November 21, 2008 at 4:14 pm: We will probably be spending about the same but we are sure to make wise and of course cash only purchases. We will probably up our spending once we’re completely debt free.
Gayle McLaughlin November 21, 2008 at 6:33 pm: We are spending significantly less. We are giving each other experiences and cutting back on our kids. I wrote an article on How to have a buy nothing Christmas

http://www.ehow.com/how_4611949_have-buy-nothing-christmas.html

It made me stop and think!
Caleb November 22, 2008 at 6:53 am: My heart has actually driven me to spend more this holiday. I really would like to make this holiday special for some close family members. My sister is going through a divorce, amongst going through training in the Army. The circumstances have left my niece parent-less for the holiday. And she (my 3 year old niece) is staying with my mother, who is toting around a 16-month daughter of her own. Yeah, if you didn’t catch that I have a young niece who’s older than my baby sister. I help out as much as I can, and I really want to make this holiday special for the bunch, hence I’m spending a bit more this year.
Bobbi November 22, 2008 at 7:39 am: I am going to spend less, but more wisely. Quality, not quantity.
Ginger November 22, 2008 at 8:23 am: I have asked my family to make a donation to the 2008 Emergency Christmas Relief Project that helps to support our soldiers that have been wounded serving our country.

http://www.saluteheroes.org/

I had done a little shopping for a gift for my mom and we are sharing the cost on a new monitor for my Mamoe. Her monitor is going out. I am re-gifting to my niece the Xavix I bought for myself last Christmas. She is thrilled. It is also saving her dad from buying a Wii.

My niece is the only little one left and the rest of my cousins are grown so I don’t buy for them anymore. Graduation from high school was the cut off. I am the oldest of the group and the last one graduated last year. We all have what we need and I hate to give a gift just to say I swapped money.

Also, I have been encouraging all of my family members to stock up on the essentials of life and get prepared for hard times. I have been working overtime to build up the pantry, fix up some things in my house, and pad the emergency funds for hard times. These are more important than buying a gift for Christmas. Being together safe and sound is the best gift that any of them could give.
Alexia November 22, 2008 at 10:41 am: No. unfortunately, we aren’t able to buy gifts this year, due to hubby (the sole bread winner) having been laid off. Now if we would have been smart and had an emergency fund (bills/utilities/food/gas) in place, and a Christmas fund (for gifts and meals and such) then we would still probably be spending just a little less…

but we didn’t! and now we have had to explain to our children that mommy and daddy didn’t save for a rainy day, and there won’t be any gifts this year.

Oh, well, what a lesson learned. and honestly God has been proving He is the Provider…over and over again. So who knows? maybe there will be some gifts under the tree?!

God is still good!
Poor Boomer November 22, 2008 at 9:44 pm: This will be my fifth consecutive year of spending ZERO on Christmas.
Carolyn November 22, 2008 at 9:54 pm: I’m planning to spend less by using my AMEX reward points to get gift cards, then use those to purchase gifts for my family and friends. Next year, I hope to have a Christmas fund like some of the others have mentioned and use cash. I’ve never done that before but that seems the smartest way to go.
Nicki November 25, 2008 at 1:47 pm: Yes, we are spending much less this year. We’re having an almost-entirely-homemade Christmas. It’s a lot more work, but I think it will be the most meaningful Christmas yet.

Thanks!
Shari December 6, 2008 at 4:43 pm: Yes. I’m spending less this Christmas. Since we are having a recession, it is a great excuse to use with the kids for needing to spend less. Their grandparents are sending individual gifts to the kids and so my husband and I will just have to buy a few group gifts for the kids to share. Hopefully, the recession excuse will work on the out-of-state relatives, too. Gift giving with the relatives has become a habit that no one really even appreciates. I am sending a worship CD and framed group photo of the kids to the grandparents. Plus, I’m including an early unwrapped gift for my mom – a Christmas historical fiction book I found at christianbook.com for only $2.