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My advice to all of you who are stressed about the holidays, Christmas, etc. Just stop. I stopped buying gifts for everyone except for my children. I am no longer going to participate in buying useless junk that nobody needs anyway. The thrill of spending for the sake of spending is long gone. I enjoy buying for my children but I see no need to buy things for my adult sister or other relatives. My sis and I were just mailing each other gift certificates so we figured what is the point?
Tipping - Sorry, but I don't have the time or energy to run around and tip the mailman, garbage man, etc. It is great to appreciate others and we definately should. But, I find that speaking praise and appreciation is what is meaningful and I can do that all year. If you want to tip, by all means. But, for me, I wanted to cut down on the spending and the craziness.
Cards - I used to send Christmas cards but no longer. I really dont' see the point. I enjoy getting a card from someone I don't talk to regularly as long as they write a note in it. But getting a generic card with somebody's signature is more like junk mail and I just toss it .
Cooking/Baking - I keep it simple. Nothing elaborate. We aren't fancy and I have a small family and we simply cannot eat that much food. I could make 14 kinds of cookies but they wouldn't get eaten.
Decorating - I have a huge tree with tons of ornaments, the lighted holiday village with 20 houses and all the trimmings - in storage. We recently moved so haven't had the chance to pull it out. But, I found that instead of decorating being fun, it had become a chore because there was simply too much. I no longer buy decorations and this year we have a simple pencil tree with lights and a few ornaments.
Gifts - I used to go waaaayyy overboard in gift buying for the kids. This year, I informed them that there aren't going to be presents stacked to the ceiling. I have succumbed in the past to buying too much useless toys they don't play with. Now that they are a bit older, they want pricey video games and electronics. I will buy them decent things but am not going to waste money buying stocking stuffers just to have stuff to open. This year they will get a couple of video games, a board game and some Legos. That's it.
Office - Sorry, not buying gifts for the coworkers. I dont' want to be part of "Secret Santa" either. I don't take a stand or act scroogy, I just simply ignore the whole thing. They can have their fun but that doesnt' mean I have to jump on board with all that. In fact, I ignore all of these office type things. Works for me.
Now, before you think I am a Scrooge, I love the holidays. Last night we popped popcorn and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" for the umpteenth time. We make our fun driving around to look at lights, watching holiday movies, listening to music, etc. And, if you enjoy buying a lot of gifts and baking and decorating to the nines, you should absolutely do so. My point is that you CAN stop the spending if you want to.
Tipping - Sorry, but I don't have the time or energy to run around and tip the mailman, garbage man, etc. It is great to appreciate others and we definately should. But, I find that speaking praise and appreciation is what is meaningful and I can do that all year. If you want to tip, by all means. But, for me, I wanted to cut down on the spending and the craziness.
Cards - I used to send Christmas cards but no longer. I really dont' see the point. I enjoy getting a card from someone I don't talk to regularly as long as they write a note in it. But getting a generic card with somebody's signature is more like junk mail and I just toss it .
Cooking/Baking - I keep it simple. Nothing elaborate. We aren't fancy and I have a small family and we simply cannot eat that much food. I could make 14 kinds of cookies but they wouldn't get eaten.
Decorating - I have a huge tree with tons of ornaments, the lighted holiday village with 20 houses and all the trimmings - in storage. We recently moved so haven't had the chance to pull it out. But, I found that instead of decorating being fun, it had become a chore because there was simply too much. I no longer buy decorations and this year we have a simple pencil tree with lights and a few ornaments.
Gifts - I used to go waaaayyy overboard in gift buying for the kids. This year, I informed them that there aren't going to be presents stacked to the ceiling. I have succumbed in the past to buying too much useless toys they don't play with. Now that they are a bit older, they want pricey video games and electronics. I will buy them decent things but am not going to waste money buying stocking stuffers just to have stuff to open. This year they will get a couple of video games, a board game and some Legos. That's it.
Office - Sorry, not buying gifts for the coworkers. I dont' want to be part of "Secret Santa" either. I don't take a stand or act scroogy, I just simply ignore the whole thing. They can have their fun but that doesnt' mean I have to jump on board with all that. In fact, I ignore all of these office type things. Works for me.
Now, before you think I am a Scrooge, I love the holidays. Last night we popped popcorn and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" for the umpteenth time. We make our fun driving around to look at lights, watching holiday movies, listening to music, etc. And, if you enjoy buying a lot of gifts and baking and decorating to the nines, you should absolutely do so. My point is that you CAN stop the spending if you want to.
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