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redfox
12-17-13, 11:39pm
Anyone else here not into this event? We have a super small Winter Solstice with the now young adult kids, and they get the blow out Christmas thing at their crazy mom's house. This year, we're taking them to see a holiday parody show, called Ham for the Holidays, and probably out to dinner.

I grew up with a secular, aspiring middle class xmas with lots of tension and weird consumer expectations. I grew to loathe it. Luckily, my DH feels the same. For the 25th, we usually go for a long urban walkabout & make some nice dinner, and then go back to work the 26th.

I am getting very weary of the jingles and holiday madness. I work in the heart of downtown Seattle, so I pass by starving homeless people begging unsuccessfully from those spending spending, spending. Ugh. Since I just got a long ago promised pay increase, retroactive, I will be giving out food & some small cash amounts to those who beg or sell the local street newspaper, Real Change. That's my contribution to this consumer madness.

bae
12-17-13, 11:52pm
We do Yule, but we follow The Old Ways up here in the islands :-)

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/7c/7cdbc2db25b50c8490473384ab858e52d6af9da53f8a6f5b61 2833a837c16017.jpg

redfox
12-18-13, 12:00am
Lol! I remember the Lopez Old Ways. Lots of fun.

Teacher Terry
12-18-13, 12:03am
REdfox, my kids are grown with no grandkids so on xmas eve we have a dinner & invite family plus those that would be alone. Xmas day we go to a movie & out to dinner. When my kids were kids things were much more traditional although not overboard by any means. I knit scarves for the homeless year round, always give to some people on the street, take some people to medical appts etc and volunteer with a few organizations that I value. Gift giving is practically nil-I prefer to help my kids if they need it any time of the year. We do some white elephant gifts with stealing which is so fun. I have really changed because 15 years ago this was not me.

try2bfrugal
12-18-13, 1:56am
This is our first Christmas since we have been really interested in simple living. We gave away the big artificial tree and most of the decorations. The squirrels chewed through my solar string lights, so we can't put those outside unless we fix or replace them.

We used to do lots of shopping and gift giving, buy new outfits for Christmas plays and ballets, put up lots of decorations inside and out, fly on vacation or visit relatives, etc.

This year we are doing almost none of that. Instead of Christmas plays and ballets we are buying a single annual garden membership with reciprocal membership programs that will allow us to visit 900 art and history museums and gardens for free, many of them local or day trip range.

Christmas Day we have reservations at a nice waterfront restaurant with views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, and afterwards we plan to visit the Japanese Gardens at Golden Gate Park.

I am actually looking forward to Christmas this year instead of spending the month stressed out. For gifts we are giving mostly gift cards and stuff we ordered from Amazon. For the out of town gifts we will let Amazon to the wrapping and shipping.

ApatheticNoMore
12-18-13, 3:52am
I grew up with a secular, aspiring middle class xmas with lots of tension and weird consumer expectations. I grew to loathe it.

well we were middle class (middle class cheapskates, but solidly middle class) but there was lots of resentments about having to buy us kids gifts growing up. Partly fueled by us kids never being happy with the gifts, and that's partly because they were always educational gifts. We could never just get stupid toys which is what we wanted. And also in even larger part fueled by unspoken religious battles! Ok mom and dad were not of the same background or of exactly the same beliefs there. So all the unspoken tension would break out into complaints about getting us kids gifts, anger, raised voices, etc. (ok xmas didn't generally escalate beyond that, but that was enough).

So I find it for so many reasons my least favorite time of year. But I seem able now to completely let those long ago memories be, bury the long dead past .... and ignore the whole darn season!!! :) If I can't enjoy it, I can at least ignore it. I mean I've tried celebrating solstice etc. in past years, but really was never in to doing that either.


Luckily, my DH feels the same. For the 25th, we usually go for a long urban walkabout & make some nice dinner, and then go back to work the 26th.

yea I *might* pop into some half-obligatory friends of family party for an hour or so, but otherwise similar.


I am getting very weary of the jingles and holiday madness.

Well like I said I would I stocked up the week before thanksgiving (on household products and so on) deliberately in order to avoid the jingles and madness, and so the only stores I have been to are food stores (well I do have to eat and I like fresh foods).


I work in the heart of downtown Seattle, so I pass by starving homeless people begging unsuccessfully from those spending spending, spending. Ugh.

I'm really starting to lose it at people on the spending issue. I guess my main concern is environmental really. I hate waste! That's just it: I hate waste! Like even though I will not be drawn into their madness at all, some family members seem to be buying everything in sight lately. And not even for gifts! But the advertising is really affecting them, and so mass piles of stuff (boxes blocking entrances and so on), and this has all happened week after week since black friday but not so much before then - and that's why I blame advertising :~) (a wave of complete shopping insanity!). Completely stupid stuff too: automatic wine corks! Which surprise, surprise don't even work well (hey whadya know made in China). So I start snapping at them, over my very personal distress at the madness and the waste (and I know I don't recycle and reuse everything and I'm not a perfect person but ..). And they think I'm losing it for snapping. And I think they've been entirely brainwashed by advertising (due to the near perfect timing of this bout of one of the most virulent strains of affluenza I've ever seen), see, see, t.v. rots your brain .... see! T.V. makes people dumb, it's all brainwashing, we're brainwashed all day long, everything in the society is brainwashing, the entire society is brainwashing, everything is framed in a way to brainwash, humans are going to spend themselves into extinction in my lifetime, people are probably brainwashed to consume because of the petrodollar and the collapse of Brenton Woods and ... ... and I'm off in paranoid corner somewhere. And it may really be that I just deeply resent being exposed to the madness despite going to so much personal bother to avoid it (like the stocking up). So meanwhile am snapping at people for spending money on the automatic wine cork and so on, and they think I'm just emotionally unbalanced, and my heart just hurts from the degree of waste. Sigh. (But it's their money? well that's not really true either, but it is true it's not MY money).

sweetana3
12-18-13, 5:37am
So far this has been a fairly uneventful season. Well, it is so cold and icy that we have a perfect excuse for not going out.

On Christmas Eve, the Childrens Museum is free so we are taking Mom to see it for the first time.
I got a "pickle dish" at a garage sale for a friend's cat they named Pickles. She will see the funny side.
Gave her son a Catopoly game and hope we all can play and enjoy some social time. I have had this game for a long time but we never played with it.
Husband started to shovel everyone's sidewalks all the way to their front door for the 8 houses around us. He does it for exercise but the residents and mailman love it.

Gave a bunch of exercise partners in one class a surprise gift of homemade neck coolers. Loved the surprised look on their faces.
Made my yearly fudge for Mom's Christmas dinner at the apartment.

My brother loves pugs although he does not have one so sent him a box of inexpensive but funny pug related items and some handmade pillowcases.
Sent a big box of books to my stepsisters and a big box of westerns to an uncle. They use them and pass them on which then benefits others. We are lucky to have so many local resources for used books.

No decorations, no parties, no tree but still a fun time.

goldensmom
12-18-13, 6:28am
We do not celebrate “X”-mas either but we do celebrate the Birth of Christ. We strive for simple reverence which has become much easier since I retired and am not bombarded by pressure from co-workers to participate in every this and that. We do some decorating because I think it's pretty. I have not been in a mall for years nor a Walmart-ish type store for any reason so I avoid most commercialism surrounding the secular side of Christmas. Whatever others do is I think is great for them. I wish people a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Have a Good Thursday, etc. and appreciate any well wish of whatever from others.

rodeosweetheart
12-18-13, 7:56am
We do not celebrate “X”-mas either but we do celebrate the Birth of Christ. We strive for simple reverence which has become much easier since I retired and am not bombarded by pressure from co-workers to participate in every this and that. We do some decorating because I think it's pretty. I have not been in a mall for years nor a Walmart-ish type store for any reason so I avoid most commercialism surrounding the secular side of Christmas. Whatever others do is I think is great for them. I wish people a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Have a Good Thursday, etc. and appreciate any well wish of whatever from others.

+ 1
And can I say Redfox, I am SO HAPPY you got your retroactive money, and that is an awesome thing, to be able to give to others right now.

We did go to 3 big box stores yesterday because my computer broke and I need a back up for work. I look around at all the stuff and think, there are not possibly enough people around here to buy even a 1/4 of this stuff, so where does it all go?

I put up my blue lights and my candleholders now that we are back in a wintry climate. Down south did not do much, and neither did anyone else. I think it is more prevalent to do a big Christmas up north here b ecause it is so dreary and people need to feel something beautiful and light and warm, the winter solstice angle.

cdttmm
12-18-13, 8:11am
My significant other and I do not "do" Christmas and if it were up to us we would spend the day watching movies on Netflix, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing. However, our families both still do Christmas. So I fly to MN for a few days to see my mom and my brothers. It's the only time during the year that I typically go to visit them and it's convenient for all of them so I comply. My mom still insists on giving us gifts, although they are inexpensive and more for fun. My brothers and I do not exchange gifts with one another. My significant other goes to visit his family and they celebrate together with a big meal, a gift exchange, and usually a lot of family bickering. Both of our families celebrate on Christmas Eve, so on the 25th, he and I both travel back to our happy home and recover together. :cool: Then, since neither of us typically has to do much for work between Christmas and New Year's, we snowshoe, cross-country ski, snowboard, watch movies, and chill out.

herbgeek
12-18-13, 9:55am
We don't do much during the Christmas season, and I like it that way.

Decorating takes under 1/2 hour- candles in the window, fake wreaths and a garland around the front door, some string lights on the porch and a tabletop Christmas tree.

Presents only for the grand nieces, my parents and small stocking stuffer gifts between my husband and I.

I bake a couple of favorites to induldge in during December. Usually amaretti cookies, and cheese crackers.

Usually try to attend one holiday concert, but didn't even do that this year.

Christmas Eve is my big extended family celebration with dinner and watching the grandkids get completely overwhelmed with all their loot. Christmas Day is typically quiet with a visit to my widowed MIL with my husband. She doesn't cook or host, so we subsist on chips (if there is that much) until we get home to a nice dinner.

Its manageable, it doesn't put us in debt, and I'm not frazzled.

lac
12-18-13, 11:15am
We have a minimal holiday by ourselves. It used to be drive here, drive there, try not to crash car in snowy/icy conditions. We stay home now and distribute cookies to our friends before the holiday.

I don't care for the commercialization and buying unnecessary things. I guess I've just become too practical over the years.

pinkytoe
12-18-13, 11:23am
After years of "doing" Christmas with dh's parents, we don't do much at all. It became such an expectation over the years that last year I revolted and we spent a few days at the coast instead - away from his family. This year, I did put up our little artificial tree and a wreath on the door. We usually go to a local church during the season to hear some beautiful choir music. And the obligatory office holiday party or two. But that's it - I too don't like all the waste and expectations.

redfox
12-18-13, 11:34am
I skipped the party at my new workplace last night because I was exhausted (going back to full time after this year has been hard), and this is apparently a hard drinking crowd. Not my thing. We'll go to DH's event because it's only 12-15 folks, and very low key. I'm going to get a few cyclemen for the front porch. Color in winter is nice...

Alan
12-18-13, 11:44am
I'm going to get a few cyclemen for the front porch. Color in winter is nice...
Dudes in colorful spandex shorts?

Rogar
12-18-13, 5:52pm
Christmas is the only time of the year I get to see a few relatives and friends. I like to exchange cards that are sort of a shout-out hello to other friends and family, and am pretty much into a nice wreath from the local nursery for the front door. I could pretty much dispense with everything else...except the cookies and milk.

goldensmom
12-18-13, 6:38pm
Dudes in colorful spandex shorts?
Funny.

Lainey
12-18-13, 7:49pm
Dudes in colorful spandex shorts?

ha, that thought crossed my mind too!

Lainey
12-18-13, 8:00pm
. .. Since I just got a long ago promised pay increase, retroactive, I will be giving out food & some small cash amounts to those who beg or sell the local street newspaper, Real Change. That's my contribution to this consumer madness.

I heard a guy on TV describe what he calls "the can project." He buys a few canned goods specifically with the pull-top tabs and keeps them in his car. When he pulls up to a corner where someone is begging, he gives them a plastic bag containing a few of those cans and a plastic spoon or fork, and maybe adds a few dollars in the bag too. It's not enough to change their homelessness, but it's an easy way to donate a little something.

I've just started doing it 2 mos ago and have given out a few baggies already. Last night was to a young couple with a young child begging at the exit to the grocery store - which I agree is the ultimate contrast to the consumer frenzy all around.

Blackdog Lin
12-18-13, 8:19pm
I struggle with DH every year at this time. He still maintains that "he hates Christmas". Well, what he hates is the "Christmas that was", not the Christmas we have now.

The Christmas that was involved coordinating (large) family get-togethers, and having to attend them (my family: fun drunkenness, but still way too much drunkenness; his family: dysfunction and anger and downright meanness), and having at least minimal gifts for everyone (and having said gifts dissed frequently), and providing food for them, and having to have the perfect holiday at home with our own gifts and food, and having the workplace parties to attend and have clothes for.....it WAS way too much. And many years I was unable to pull my weight with all this because of working 56 hours a week in December (USPS). So of course he hated Christmas.

But I keep trying to tell him there's no reason to hate the holiday season now. No family blow-outs, only a bit of visiting here and there and then only if it fits in, gifts to ANYONE entirely optional, minimal decorating, no hassles and no big expectations. It's wonderful. We do just as much as we feel like doing, in the spirit of the season. What's to hate?

I guess it's gonna take a few more years to get him settled down into a nice holiday spirit.

mtnlaurel
12-19-13, 5:23am
I struggle with DH every year at this time. He still maintains that "he hates Christmas". Well, what he hates is the "Christmas that was", not the Christmas we have now.

The Christmas that was involved coordinating (large) family get-togethers, and having to attend them (my family: fun drunkenness, but still way too much drunkenness; his family: dysfunction and anger and downright meanness), and having at least minimal gifts for everyone (and having said gifts dissed frequently), and providing food for them, and having to have the perfect holiday at home with our own gifts and food, and having the workplace parties to attend and have clothes for.....it WAS way too much. And many years I was unable to pull my weight with all this because of working 56 hours a week in December (USPS). So of course he hated Christmas.

But I keep trying to tell him there's no reason to hate the holiday season now. No family blow-outs, only a bit of visiting here and there and then only if it fits in, gifts to ANYONE entirely optional, minimal decorating, no hassles and no big expectations. It's wonderful. We do just as much as we feel like doing, in the spirit of the season. What's to hate?

I guess it's gonna take a few more years to get him settled down into a nice holiday spirit.

I'm glad those days are over for you Blackdog Lin.
I must be feeling emotional today, it brought tears to my eyes. You're such a nice decent person and have worked very hard and to think of someone "dissing your gift" makes me sad.
I mean seriously, Little Baby Jesus in a Manger, what's more humble and beautiful than that and this toxic soup we've made of it makes me want to barf.
Don't get me wrong, I like me some Christmas bling too... the lights, the songs, St. Nick, Rudolph and the silliness.
This is a beautiful, sacred, special time of the year to me.
I do like being a grown up because I can choose what I want to partake of and what I don't and I am FINALLY (a long, long road for me) getting the point of saying, "No, Thank you" and that's it, Movin' On - no explanations required.

I love being on this board and hearing where everyone is coming from.

leslieann
12-19-13, 11:33am
This year things have changed. Maybe it has been happening for a few years but this year it is noticeable....my beloved DH is actually initiating and participating in holiday stuff. He has been a "hater" forever, due to the usual childhood stress stuff. But we are very VERY low key about the whole thing and I suspect that's allowed him to start to notice that he enjoys some things.

This year we are visiting his sister for Christmas and we three, DH, DSD (16) and I agreed to not have a tree. Instead, I got some dogwood branches, just lovely all by themselves. I got home one afternoon to find my DH decorating them with lights and he made a holder for them. He's gotten involved in wrapping and doing some little decorating outside, too. And enjoying it! That's the big thing.

I am gently bemused and happy for him that he can find things to enjoy about this season. We aim for as little pressure as possible, with the focus on being together with people whom we love, good food and lots to laugh about.

I also love being here to hear about YOUR practices. And adopt them where I can...I think I'll stock up on pop-top foods when I do the grocery shopping later today. What a great idea....thanks.

Happy Solstice, Joyous Christmas, and a peaceful, reflective new year....

Gardenarian
12-19-13, 4:17pm
Loving all these responses!

catherine
12-19-13, 4:26pm
I was so flattered, because my kids were emailing all over about our lists, and how stressed they were, and how broke they were, and I sent my daughter my list, which I had just seen on Center for a New American Dream's Facebook feed, and then DD posted it on her Facebook page and she called me "the coolest Mom ever." Wow, was I flattered--and not only that but she got a ton of "likes" and requests to share. Good for Center for a New American Dream!!! Thanks to them for making me look good in front my my DD28!

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/p403x403/1455081_10152094610658728_306137828_n.jpg

IshbelRobertson
12-19-13, 5:06pm
As a Scot, I grew up with Christmas being a celebration more child - oriented than for adults.

Scottish celebration is centred on Hogmanay, our New Year's celebration, with all that entails like first-footing people, opening the windows to listen to 'the bells' at midnight and other traditions.

Slainte!

ctg492
12-19-13, 6:37pm
Sometimes we get what we wished for, perhaps be careful what we wish for?
I have my faith, that is separate from the holiday craziness.
I have been unhappy for years with the holiday hoopla. I had stopped trees and such years ago. I came to understand my dislike was deeply rooted in that I only participated to please my mom. Not saying that was a bad thing. But I never had Christmas at my home. It was drive drive to moms from day one with my kids. She loves Christmas craziness. Kids grow, but still I dragged myself across state to do the usual.
Last year I said no more. Poof all gone this year.
I am 500+ miles away, one son 500 in another direction, husband 500 in the opposite direction. My is terminal. So no more hoopla. I just drove back today from seeing folks. Tomorrow I drive to see one son, then Saturday or Sunday back to the temp home base. Christmas Eve I will pick a church and go. One son that is in the area says he will join me. He and I will have pizza and movie on Christmas.
Though deeply saddened by the way life turned out this year. I know that the next era of the holidays will be perhaps more peaceful.

razz
12-19-13, 7:03pm
Christmas has been scaled down to a few stocking stuffers, a nice meal, visiting if/as convenient for family members and simple gifts for DGS.

try2bfrugal
12-19-13, 7:36pm
I was so flattered, because my kids were emailing all over about our lists, and how stressed they were, and how broke they were, and I sent my daughter my list, which I had just seen on Center for a New American Dream's Facebook feed, and then DD posted it on her Facebook page and she called me "the coolest Mom ever." Wow, was I flattered--and not only that but she got a ton of "likes" and requests to share. Good for Center for a New American Dream!!! Thanks to them for making me look good in front my my DD28!

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/p403x403/1455081_10152094610658728_306137828_n.jpg


That is a cool list. I gave my family a list of mainly token gifts like a used book on one of my hobbies, chocolates or thrift shop jewelry.

I have enjoyed hearing about simple, scaled down holidays here and other forums. I think the media makes the holidays such a big event I used to feel like I had to go along with the craziness. I realize now so much of it just enriches the retail and travel industries. Even at Costco most of the gift baskets seem quite high priced for what is inside.

Blackdog Lin
12-20-13, 8:32pm
I am also enjoying all the different responses. (thanks, mtnlaurel!, for your nice post.) It seems we are all working toward coming to the same place, from wildly different pathways.

A simpler Christmas, focusing on what is truly important, is what we're here, on this forum, striving for, eh?

oldhat
12-21-13, 9:13am
I don't have anything against Xmas per se; I even like the music in moderation. But adults need to do something about the orgy of mindless consumerism the holiday has degenerated into. I don't remember where I heard this, but I think it's a great idea: kids should get three presents, no more or less, because that's what the baby Jesus got. I've been to family gatherings where each child got enough gifts to start their own Toys R Us (and I'm embarrassed to say I contributed).

Another great Xmas reform would be to celebrate the holiday as it is supposed to be observed, starting on Xmas eve and ending on the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6--the traditional 12 days of Christmas. All workers should get the time off so they'd really have time to relax and be with their families. But of course, that would require that employers put their money where their mouths are when it comes to bolstering family values.

sweetana3
12-21-13, 11:46am
Oldhat, great ideas. We have enjoyed it so much more when the expectations were dialed down.

redfox
12-21-13, 3:17pm
1344


Happy Winter Solstice! The Light is returning!!!!!

RosieTR
12-21-13, 5:45pm
We didn't do Xmas when we lived far away from family. We're not religious and DH usually had to work so I'd just take the dog for a hike. The only things about the holiday I liked were his family's tradition of doing a fancy breakfast for dinner and the lights. So we'd go to some neighborhoods that had good lights and walk around an evening or two, or one year went to the Zoo Lights. Then do breakfast for dinner on Dec 24, and tamale pie (since I'm too lazy to make tamales but it's a traditional food for that time of year in the SW) for Dec 25.
Now that we're back in the area of family, Dec 24 will be breakfast for dinner with DH's family at our house then Dec 25 with the whole deal at my parents' house. This would be OK except it would be nice if my mom didn't get so hung up on the dang gifts. I hate making a list and then really just wanting to buy for myself the couple of things I actually really want/need. It's worse to have it be a possible gift since any of the few items are things I either haven't needed enough to buy or would have already bought because I needed them! Thrift store items, donations to charity etc are NOT seen as acceptable in her view even though I would actually really appreciate a donation toward the funds for fire and/or flood recovery to a local charity much more than whatever Amazon is selling. The whole gift thing gets really awkward since there are some relatives who may or may not show up, so it's awkward if they do and I don't have some small thing for them or their kids, or I get something when in fact that person or family doesn't show. The iffy folks are also ones that are hard-up for money and whom I don't have a lot of contact with, so I'd just prefer they not get me anything.
What I hate more than anything else in the whole deal is the music. Even the blood donation place was playing it the entire hour I was there donating blood yesterday. I can't just put on my MP3 either since I have to interact with the phlebotomists. This technique is great for stores though! Even the grocery stores have started with the music at this point. I feel sorry for retail workers.

redfox
12-23-13, 12:42am
This explains a chunk of what I never wanted to do; in fact, never did, and it's gotten even simpler over time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/for-women-its-the-most-overwhelming-time-of-the-year/2013/12/20/a26461ae-668e-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html?tid=sm_fb

razz
12-23-13, 8:47am
Neat article, Redfox. We are masters of our lives if we choose to do so but it takes courage to make the effort to initiate change and wait until the other parties let go of their fixed concepts of how things should be.

iris lilies
12-23-13, 10:51am
Women (and men) who feel compelled to bake 9 types of cookies late into the night are creating their own chaos.

Only in recent years has my baker, DH, dialed down the cookie baking machinery. He used to make 8 kinds of cookies over 3 weekends. Now he makes none and we are better off for it.

ApatheticNoMore
12-23-13, 12:11pm
Women (and men) who feel compelled to bake 9 types of cookies late into the night are creating their own chaos.

Yea really. I've toyed with making one type of cookie but I might not as they aren't really necessary. I hope I don't lose some cred if I do make that one type of cookie ...

Really lately I've been too lazy to even cook ANYTHING (it ALL seemed overwhelming) and have eaten the same beef and bean chili I made the one night I cooked like 5 nights in a row or something, but I made myself cook last night (and froze the remaining chili - enough).

redfox
12-23-13, 3:14pm
Our Solstice celebration with our two young adult kids yesterday was two simple gifts for each, both augementing their current academic careers, and a play + dinner out for us all! It was delightful.

Gardenarian
12-23-13, 3:32pm
1344


Happy Winter Solstice! The Light is returning!!!!!

And to you! The Wheel is turning...

OwlGirl
8-5-14, 7:22am
With each passing year I get more and more stressed out with buying Christmas gifts. It's not fun for me. I hate the waste. I hate seeing people getting gifts that they don't want. I hate receiving things I don't want and I generally just think that Christmas for many doesn't mean anything more than just presents. I see Christmas as a time for family (much like Thanksgiving). I like the music and the meals and the snuggling up with egg nog and watching Christmas movies, but the actual gift giving is horrendous for me. I find myself stressing out about it. I do try to be creative and get things like tickets to sports games or things that involve and experience and not just a physical thing, but to do that for everyone is hard. My in laws take christmas wayyy over the top and although I ask for nothing I always end up getting stuff that I don't want or need and then I have to play happy.

I know that all sounds terrible and I should be grateful, but having loads of things I don't need stresses me out. I literally have a pile of things in my room of stuff I don't want that were unasked gifts to me. I just wish I could convince the husband to do Christmas my way this year. It would really take a load off my shoulders.

ToomuchStuff
8-5-14, 4:02pm
Family fights, different beliefs/views, income levels, etc, etc, etc. Not a Christmas fan either. One thing that you might consider doing this year, is some sort of shirt, with a holiday theme that says, "do you have the reciept?"
We need to come up with some anti Christmas song, "Return this to here, take this back there, get it away, I don't want it anyway" (song to the tune Carol of the Bells):treadmill:

sweetana3
8-5-14, 8:11pm
Didnt this website have a certificate that could be used sent for this reason? Something about not buying for Xmas?

We have gotten it down to no presents between the two of us pretty much and just some fun things for his mother. Then I make some minimal things for friends. This year I have mason jars and labels for granola. I also make some killer fabric wallets. Most, except for the granola, are made and wrapped. Now all I need to do is remember where I put them.

frugal-one
8-5-14, 9:20pm
I ask for "clutterless" gifts. ie... things that are eaten or an experience. I don't need any more stuff!

awakenedsoul
8-5-14, 9:25pm
I keep Christmas very simple and inexpensive. The decorations I use I can put up and/or take down in an hour. I put lights on the two conifers that flank my door. I planted them when I moved in so that I would have live Christmas trees. (I don't buy an inside tree or decorate a tree.) I just use icicle lights for the front of the house. (My house is only 567 square feet, so that's two strands.) I don't do the sides or rear of the house. It looks really pretty, but not overdone. Well, I think it does.

I give gifts to my parents and mail lady. If I have a teacher, I give them a gift, too. I send cards to a few close friends. I also send emails to a few friends. The gifts are usually homegrown fruit: (oranges, lemons, persimmons, tangerines, and guavas) with a Christmas card, crocheted pot holders, or hand knit socks. I pick things up at Costco for my parents, so I don't notice the expense. This and that throughout the year...

I really enjoy Christmas now. I just don't have all those intense expectations or demands. My mom used to decorate our house like Nordstom's every year. It took her a whole week to pack up and put away the decorations. She went way overboard on everything. She's trying to get me to come for Christmas this year, but I think I'll offer to cook them Thanksgiving dinner instead. Christmas is too loaded...

ctg492
8-7-14, 7:21pm
I do not think I will ever participate in the commercial aspect of Christmas ever again. I have not enjoyed the hoopla since I was a teen. My mom was a Christmas ho ho fanatic. I stopped trees and decorations years and years ago. Gifts are few. Mom passed in the spring and I feel free of obligation of the Santa Ho Ho and visiting, which I only did for her.

awakenedsoul
8-7-14, 8:40pm
Now that I've toned it way down, I actually like it. But, I also have extra money now. When I was in debt, it was a real strain. I couldn't afford it, and felt obligated. I like to give little surprises to people who work in jobs that I appreciate. Each year I mean to give the garbage collectors something. This year I'll take something in to the girls that work behind the desk at the gym. They are always really sweet to me. I may knit a pair of socks for the lady from Korea who cuts my hair. She got a very wistful look on her face when she saw the last pair I was knitting. She loved the colors. I don't think she has much money for extras. I'd like to surprise her with a set.
When I was teaching dance and yoga, money was really tight. I received so many lovely, useful gifts at Christmas. The students wrote very appreciative notes and cards. I still have some of them. I was amazed at what they picked out for me. It was touching. So, I would like to do that for someone else. It meant a lot to me at the time. The amount of money I was making at the time was not very good, but the students' enthusiasm and appreciation was generous.

Packratona!
9-5-14, 3:45pm
I see it as purely optional for most people. Spent a lot of time researching the historical and cultural background to all the customs, thought about it, and decided it is a free country and to voluntarily opt out. However since my kids still celebrate it (I brought them up to, after all) we do visit with them around that time; I just don't do a tree etc. or decorate for it in my home, or pay any attention to the date of it. We are weaning ourselves away from most holiday and birthday gift-giving in general. However, I am pretty addicted to the music still...