Survey: 45% of Americans would prefer to skip Christmas

[packman]

due to financial stress.




A bit outdated survey and poll (2012) , but my wife and I were discussing gifts and costs and it does seem like it gets out of hand.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/survey-45-americans-would-prefer-skip-christmas-1C7155109

[Irish_Dem]

1. Or go back to an old fashioned Christmas.

Small presents for the children.

[lunasun]

5. +1 Yes a nice holiday reset would be nice

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yes, put the tree up the week before Christmas.

Children get small gifts on Christmas morning.
And a nice Christmas dinner.

We went to a beautiful Christmas mass which was exciting.

None of it broke the bank and it was still a fun and wonderful time.

[pandr32]

18. Yes, but more secular.

It should be a tradition (like the 12 days of) to make the rounds and touch bases with family and friends in a happy way with food and merriment--perhaps small gifts of homemade treats to share, etc., with the 25th being the big meal and presents for children.
We should discuss and be open to all the traditions of during the holiday season because there are so many. Saturnalia, Solstice, Yule, Hanukkah, Santa and the helpers from the North Pole, and others, besides Christmas.
As a child, I loved the holidays and wished people would be like they were during the season all year 'round. Now they are exhausted, put-upon, and stressed over holiday costs because the emphasis has become commercialism and guilt.

[Irish_Dem]

19. I agree completely. And yes I remember when Christmas was fun.

Yes, family and friends, whatever religious tradition is important.

Christmas mass was a big part of our Christmas and Christmas Eve
was a time of lit candles and some sacred music. It was magical.

I grew up in the military and we were posted in far flung places so
whatever traditions we could keep we enjoyed a lot. It was all toned down
and simple, but we enjoyed it.

[pandr32]

25. Time to bring the magic back!

[Irish_Dem]

26. Yes the magic is what I remember most about Christmas.

Hope kids today have that feeling too.
The point is, you don't have to spend a lot of time or money for kids
to have the feeling.

[marybourg]

27. Those small gifts probably represented the best

that most people could afford at the time. If they could have afforded more, they probably would have bought more, just like people do nowadays. The rich didn't generally content themselves with small gifts then, just as they don't now.

[Irish_Dem]

28. Right, but then people did not go into debt for Christmas, like they do now.

Or at least the kind of debt that takes all year to pay off.

[marybourg]

32. There were no credit cards then. Credit, where it existed at all,

was informal and usually stringent. If there had been more credit available, who knows? I suspect the people who go for that kind of excess now, would have done so then if they had it available.

Lack of affluence was the limiting factor, not good judgment.

[Irish_Dem]

34. Yes, exactly. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I have been trying to figure out how to get out of it altogether this year.

I'm considering going to a resort in the woods by myself, one that has a nice spa facility, and spend a few days in restful silence reading books and getting massages.

[fierywoman]

11. It can be gotten out of. Follow your heart and gut and do what you want!

I started ignoring it in the 80's. It takes a long time to wean family and acquaintances off. It's the mindless gift exchange that makes me crazy.

[marybourg]

30. Yep. Many observant Jews, who would otherwise be following demanding rituals,

have taken to, if they can afford it, going to resorts where the management takes on all the onerous chores (ritual cleansing and substitution of plates, pots and cutlery, preparing special complex foods, serving large numbers of family and friends, bringing in on-premises clergy, etc).

Not a bad model, especially for working women, who would otherwise be bearing the brunt of the work and stress. Of course, another solution is to be less observant, but that's evidently not an option for everyone. This seems like a good compromise to me.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

38. I'm not Jewish, but sometimes I find Christmas to be a PITA.

I'm the fifth wheel on the wagon at the family gathering and I'd just rather not have to be there.

[marybourg]

39. Well, start making inroads.

Go away one year, saying it was a special deal, only available over Christmas. See how it goes.

I don't blame you at all. I'm home all alone today (Thanksgiving) and enjoying eating as I please, not having huge clean ups, and no family stress. And Christmas is much worse. Good luck!

[smirkymonkey]

35. That sounds heavenly!

I feel guilty about it, but I don't have a lot of disposable income and I get very resentful about having to spend it at Christmas (only family, not friends - we cut that out years ago). I usually have to go into debt because they can afford to spend so much more on me than I can on them. I know that I shouldn't, but I have that stupid need to people please and impress. That is on me.

Anyway, I just find it all very stressful. I hope you enjoy your time away from the madding crowd!

[Iliyah]

3. Oh noes

fake news, quick, fake news channel and t-rump administration to the rescue.

[dalton99a]

4. It has become an extortion scheme

"But but without Christmas, our economy would collapse!"

[LibArts]

29. Agree n/t

[Fred Sanders]

7. Christmas should focus on children and poverty. Full stop. Madison Avenue would have a fit.

Plus you get a tax break for the gift and save after tax income not spent on unnecessary mass consumption.

[Igel]

9. That's as big as shift as making it all about getting stuff was.

Many keep saying "change is good."

Xmas changed.

The change wasn't good.

You only get a tax break if you spend enough. Used to be that if you gave a $25 donation to some NGO you could deduct it from your taxes without going long form. "But the '85 ('84?) tax reform eliminated that tax-payer subsidy in order to save the government money." (I quote Weasel, but don't speak the language fluently.)

[safeinOhio]

8. Bah Humbug and a

Merry Holidays to all.

[Cirque du So-What]

10. My wife is crafty

and all her creations become treasured heirlooms. Additionally, she starts looking for bargains the day after Christmas and throughout the year. The season leading up to Christmas doesn't bring a financial burden for us.

[Freethinker65]

12. I would love to skip it but not really because of finances

I find the expectations of the entire holiday season to be stressful with the shopping for presents, wrapping presents, mailing and delivering presents, mailing of holiday cards, baking and other food prep, decorating, holiday themed parties, etc.
Once Santa stopped visiting my son, we really began to cut back. Fewer decorations, shorter gift lists, less intense baking, fewer holiday cards sent, etc. No regrets.
My son is currently home from college for Thanksgiving and requested only a new pair of nicer than he currently owns shoes for Christmas. If we happen to get them this weekend, he will most likely be wearing them on campus before Christmas. I see no reason to make him wait.

[SWBTATTReg]

14. Amen!

[SWBTATTReg]

13. It is a shame that money (gifts etc.) has become dominent Xmas issue

and is causing grief for a lot to maintain traditions of XMAS spending etc.

My other half and I view Xmas as kind of a slap in the face, for if you wish to get something for someone, why wait until Xmas? Isn't your other half/friends you wish to get something worth getting that thing or item right then, and not wait until Xmas?

Since we have this belief/living, life is so much better and less stressful...

[edhopper]

15. I don't want more shit

and I hate having to buy shit for everything in return for the shit they buy me. Too much work all around.

And I don't care about a 2000 year old story that should have been relegated to mythology a long time ago.

[democratisphere]

16. I'm with the 45%.

I would like to fast forward past the holidays.

[Polly Hennessey]

17. Yes.

Gifts for the little ones-period. I keep telling my relatives I would be so happy with just home-baked Christmas cookies. Falls on deaf ears and so I feel obligated to buy gifts for everyone and the cycle continues. What would it be like to enjoy December as just another month. One can dream.

[canetoad]

20. I moved from the city

To a smallish country town in late 2012. Straight away made a friend in the same street - we both had two dogs and shared same first name. Not being religious, no kids, and sick of blatant consumerism we created 'Dogmas'.

First year, just the two of us having a barbecue on my verandah. Grew to seven the next year. Now we have a regular group of nine or ten to celebrate Dogmas.

Rules are; no red and green. No gifts. No carols or decorations. Everyone brings their dog, food and drink. It's like a big, noisy, doggy family and we love it.

This same group of friends has also solved the problem of birthday gifts; we only give each other consumables; food, drink, delicacies etc. Works well.

[smirkymonkey]

36. That sounds great!

Good for you!

[Ilsa]

21. It's turned into a massive financial scheme.

Any gift we give is something very practical. I'm tired of spending money on junk.

[adigal]

22. We should give ourselves a gift if this tax scheme passes - boycott all!

Boycott all corporations! Buy local, handmade and at antique stores. Cripple the corporations and oligarchs!
Merry Christmas, you bastards trying to kill the poor and weak.

[tblue37]

23. I skip it every year since my kids grew up. It is a lot of extra stress, time, and expense

that comes at the very busiest time of my semester. Besides, all that extra time is virtually always cut out of a woman's life, and she shoulders most of the stress.

[msongs]

24. its easy. just stop doing anything xmas related. just like that, presto! nt

[GentryDixon]

31. I have not put a tree up in about 5 years.

Too much hassle. Just myself & spouse.

I lost my zest for the holidays after losing my sister, then my parents. From the time I was married (48 yrs) we went to my parents for Christmas. We would pack up all gifts & travel 50 miles to spend Christmas Eve in their home. All of my siblings were there as well. Just a big happy family get together. Then my sister died and we buried her on Christmas Eve. It went downhill from there for me. After my parents died we had a few get togethers at our house, but as Tracy Lawrence says "Time Marches On".

[Initech]

33. Car companies and mega department stores have turned gift giving into a contact sport.

And it's got increasingly worse every year. The car companies are absolutely unbearable during December. I mean do you really need to buy all that shit in December for one day?

[former9thward]

37. Then skip it.

They are adults and no one is holding a gun to their heads to participate.

[brooklynite]

40. Nothing stopping them...

[yortsed snacilbuper]

41. merry trumpmas and happy new year.

[romanic]

42. People need to realize...

You don't need to spend money or have stuff to celebrate Christmas.