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Santa Baby...

In the USA alone last year…
$26.3 billion was spent on gift cards
$19.8 Billion on computer games and accessories
$9.3 Billion on jewellery
$5.8 Billion on toys from Santa
$700 million on candles
67 million Turkeys were bought
131 pounds of eggnog was drank

In 10 years holiday spending has risen by almost 100 billion USD (inflation adjusted). In 2007 consumers accumulated $12.8 billion in new debt, one third of them were still paying off debt they accumulated in the 2006 holiday season. The growing numbers of us that find this heightened consumption, in an already consumerist hemisphere, nauseating, wildly look around for some new options.

The trouble is I LOVE CHRISTMAS. From September onwards I have White Christmas playing on repeat in the car, I hang Christmas lights and I walk through the Christmas displays in stores just to soak up the magic. I love Christmas and I will convert any scrooge around me. So instead of shutting Christmas down, I’m more inclined to invite Santa and every elf in his house over for mince pies.

There is always the option to opt out of consuming, like our friends at Buy Nothing Christmas. But I am torn. Whilst I hate consumerism, I am a consumer and I live in a nation based on consumerism. With the economic downturn western nations are already struggling, people are losing jobs and homes. A generous person cannot ignore that their withdrawal from the spending madness affects the economy and the economy affects people. In 2006 stores added 596 000 employees for the holiday season. Indeed Black Friday traditionally marks the day when retailers start to make a profit for the entire year (they get out of the red and into the black). The shopping dates 17th-23rd December fill the camel’s hump for the remainder of the year, which provides ongoing jobs.

Our society currently needs Christmas spending like a heroine addict needs heroine. It’s not good, but you can’t just take it away suddenly.

So what to do? As with most generous lifestyle shifts the first thing we need to do is sit down, wipe the slate clean and re-think how we want to celebrate Christmas. Whether you have a faith or not – Christmas is an important celebration for family and culture. Work out what it is that is important and special about Christmas and then celebrate that. Kids don’t remember last years presents, but they do treasure memories.  So create new memories and honor old time values and traditions.

My favorite Christmas was one that we celebrated one December 27th. We were away for Christmas itself so we gathered around an open fire with homemade soup, played games and exchanged some gifts (with White Christmas playing in the background of course). I loved that we had a simple Christmas and had time to be with each other, rather than cooking and cleaning up all day with intense indigestion.

Let’s not consume because we are brainwashed into consuming. Give good gifts, but don’t get into debt doing it. Spread out the spending or saving during the year. Maybe just have one gift per person this Christmas, wrap it beautifully and place it on their dinner plate. Or fill stockings with lots of useful things people need to buy anyway. When you buy gifts and festive food from local stores or farm shops, that need your business, you can save small businesses who are hardest hit by recession. Maybe we need to get back to quality and not quantity with gift giving. The need for quantity is a poverty mentality. The love of quality is celebratory. The best quality is homemade. So bake or make gifts that celebrate the season.

If you could wrap time up in a box, it would be the most precious gift under the tree. Time is the most original gift you can give. It may be priceless, but its better than anything you can by with Matercard. A trip to the cathedral carol service, Christmas walks in the park, trips to coffee shops, help with the dinner, decorating the house, or sitting down and playing a game – these are the things that make Christmas; not something with ‘Made in China’ stamped on the bottom of it.

So what's on your Christmas shopping list? Love, time, home baking, justice for the poor, health for the sick, home for the homeless, water for the thirsty or just a bit of Christmas spirit?

Buy Nothing Christmas inspiration

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