Not looking forward to Christmas..............

[magic mouse]

Now that Halloween is here I have to start thinking about Christmas shopping.. While my husband and I both have jobs (we know how lucky we are!) with this economy it is going to be a lean Christmas. I just need to vent as I know alot of people are struggling too......................

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Christmas is what you make of it.
My DH was laid off yesterday and hopefully with only 6 months and he gets his job back. (the reasons are dis inappropriate--so let's just say he works on govt stuff and leave it at that.)


Anyway--I was worried about Christmas for the kids. I'm bummed about Christmas for me. Oh well. I had just gotten a new fridge (morning sickness so bad and the old one HAD to go)--so Merry Early Christmas to me.

My birthday--I'm cancelling my Disney plans and may go and get my gift card and use that for Christmas shopping for my kids.

Kids are pretty basic--but they shall survive. We aren't impoverished. But I do wish we were debt free and had an Emergency fund. But alas--we made our bed and now we lie in it.

He did get a severance package and a few other things that we should be okay.

But certainly, if your economy is good--don't feel guilty about Christmas. It is what we make it.

2 years ago--we didn't have an issue, but I decided that year that the kids were shopping at thrift stores for gifts I tell you--they LOVED IT! B/c they could buy so much for so little money.

We may do that again for them so that they have the opportunity to shop. The gifts we got them were new, but I just didn't want them buying crap at Toy stores. They got some pretty cool stuff. (One item was a playmobil pirate ship!)

We will do more baking this season and other festivities so that we are as Christmassy as possible.

 

[Muushka]

OP, I know you are venting, but I just wanted to share:

I was brought up in poverty (no, not the food stamp, welfare type, but the pre-government help type, we had nothing). Many years later I remember some of the very few gifts I received, fondly. Because I knew they were hard to come by. But what I remember more than any gift my father could have given us is that I knew he loved me and cared about me. So much more important than any gift that would be long gone by now.

 

[MizTink]

my wal mart already has the christmas stuff out. they did it at least 3 or 4 days before halloween.
in a way i'm kinda glad for the excuse to have to force my family to be extra extra cheap this year. i'm out of work (only adult in house) and have 5 people in my house to buy for. not to mention parents,sister, niece, nephew, etc.
we have always had ridiculously expensive christmas'. growing up, and now me and my sister with our families. i've been unemployed for about 2 months, and my sis was out for a medical reason for 2 months with no pay. my poor parents have helped both our households so much that they are now scrimping. my mom's a little freaked about christmas shopping. but i say embrace it!!!
one thing me and my sis are doing is going to a christmas eve service together, then everyone is sleeping over at my house. we'll wake up together, do gifts, have a nice breakfast, then go to my parents for the rest of the day.
my sister's god-daughter and her 3 kids (4, 1 1/2, and 6 months) will sleep over too! it will make it fun and special without spending tons of money on gifts!
my girls were talking about neat home-made gifts they want to do too!

me, my sister, and my mom all tend to get depressed about it. but i say just make the most out of it and it will be fine. probably even better!
i have a new (well 2 actually including dgd's mom!) addition to the family. so i was thinking of getting family pictures done somewhere cheap and giving those to family as a gift. i did that one year (15 yrs ago) and i remember my mom crying when she opened it!!!
my brother lives out of state and we don't see him often enough, so my daughters are making a photo album full of pics for him. last year we sent him a big thing to hang on his wall that held several pictures. i put the pics in before mailing...
the girls also want to decoupage gifts. like vases, candy dishes, picture frames, etc. this is cheap too. we get the glass things from the dollar store sometimes! if not, they're still pretty cheap at craft stores. only other thing to buy is white school glue, tissue paper, and sparkly glitter! all very cheap!!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have had a few Christmas's where we just got 1 simple gift for the kids and none for us.

It will be OK.

 

[The Princess]

Both of my dd's (17 and 14)don't need anything so it will be a light Christmas this year~I refuse to buy just to buy~waste of money waste of time!!!

 

[minkydog]

Right there with ya, OP. DH is on SSI, I'm on long-term disability, and we had about $5000 worth of flood damage in the Georgia floods a few weeks ago. We canceled our Disney trip and bought some flood repairs.I've already told my family that they're getting pictures of our new sump pump for Christmas. And my DD is scheduled for oral surgery Dec. 22.

We've never really gone overboard at Christmas, but this year we're going to have to get creative. I've already promised DD16 she could have a cookie exchange. We'll go out riding in the community and look at holiday lights. Make cocoa and watch Christmas videos. We'll go to every kind of free concert we can find. And on Christmas day we'll open our stockings which will contain small things and lots of tangerines, apples, and roasted peanuts, to fill them out. So far I have a couple items for the kids but DH & I will probably not exchange gifts other than a few small things.

It's really okay. Christmas presents are over-rated. DH & I are already volunteering at a food bank, packing boxes of food for people in need. I promise you, it has given me such a good feeling. When I was a teen my family went through very hard times and for several years we got a Christmas box and gifts provided by a social organization. My parents were embarrassed, but it was the best they could do. We kids learned to make the best of it. We always had craft items--crayons, glue, paper--and we would entertain ourselves making cards, paper chains, and writing little stories.

As the Grinch would say: Christmas, it seems, doesn't come from a store...It will be okay, you'll see.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Now that Halloween is here I have to start thinking about Christmas shopping.. While my husband and I both have jobs (we know how lucky we are!) with this economy it is going to be a lean Christmas. I just need to vent as I know alot of people are struggling too......................

I wish you a Merry Christmas.....
Why not do something special this year to mix things up?
Local road trip or a trip to a Christmas tree farm? It's not about the presents.....it's about the day & the special people you are blessed to have in your life.

 

[diz8297]

Due to poor decisions on my end, we are paying the financial piper this year. We are blessed to have a house, food, and warmth. Will my kids have a Christmas? Yeah, but I am really going to make it simple and small, and I'm actually looking forward to that! Jesus is the true reason for our celebration. I intend to truly focus on that!! God bless.........

 

[mickaholic4077]

Due to poor decisions on my end, we are paying the financial piper this year. We are blessed to have a house, food, and warmth. Will my kids have a Christmas? Yeah, but I am really going to make it simple and small, and I'm actually looking forward to that! Jesus is the true reason for our celebration. I intend to truly focus on that!! God bless.........

Thank you for your 3rd to last sentence!!! Maybe you can make a Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

 

[minkydog]

Due to poor decisions on my end, we are paying the financial piper this year. We are blessed to have a house, food, and warmth. Will my kids have a Christmas? Yeah, but I am really going to make it simple and small, and I'm actually looking forward to that! Jesus is the true reason for our celebration. I intend to truly focus on that!! God bless.........

DH & I had a Christmas like that about a year after Christian was born. His medical bills were very high. I wasnt' able to work much because he was so fragile, we couldn't leave him with ANYone. That Christmas was very lean but I thought I was doing okay. But on Christmas morning when I came downstairs and saw their gifts--a funny pillowcase and a pair of shoes each--I started crying.

I shouldn't have been so upset. The kids thought it was the greatest--They got pancakes and candy for breakfast . One of my sisters came to the rescue and sent them several small gifties(little shampoos, markers, playdoh, nail polish, a couple of rubber balls). My neighbor came over with a pretty white bear dressed in a burgundy satin dress that her own daughter had once loved. My oldest son found a big stove box at one of the neighbor's houses--hog heaven, I'm telling you. And a dear friend showed up with a roast turkey, green beans, and a pumpkin pie. After all that I really had a reason to cry!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

DH & I had a Christmas like that about a year after Christian was born. His medical bills were very high. I wasnt' able to work much because he was so fragile, we couldn't leave him with ANYone. That Christmas was very lean but I thought I was doing okay. But on Christmas morning when I came downstairs and saw their gifts--a funny pillowcase and a pair of shoes each--I started crying.

I shouldn't have been so upset. The kids thought it was the greatest--They got pancakes and candy for breakfast . One of my sisters came to the rescue and sent them several small gifties(little shampoos, markers, playdoh, nail polish, a couple of rubber balls). My neighbor came over with a pretty white bear dressed in a burgundy satin dress that her own daughter had once loved. My oldest son found a big stove box at one of the neighbor's houses--hog heaven, I'm telling you. And a dear friend showed up with a roast turkey, green beans, and a pumpkin pie. After all that I really had a reason to cry!

WOW, what a remarkable day! You have wonderful people in your life.
Merry Christmas.