I always work very hard on my Christmas budget, trying to balance stingy and generous to a more even-handed adjective of thoughtful. One category I overlooked in my first Christmas budget was that of the tree and decorations. Since we buy a live tree, this is actually a significant expenditure. So this year, I accounted for both. And yet, somehow, we managed to spend double what was budgeted for. The “somehow” being two beautiful, matching Christmas stockings and a silver stocking holder, all late-night spontaneous purchases at Meijer this past weekend.On Monday, I was at Meijer exchanging my new Christmas stocking. Not returning it—the damage had already been done and I’m not woman enough to return impulse purchases in the cold, hard, stingy light of day. I just tell myself to do better next time. I was merely exchanging because, in my buying frenzy, I had managed to get a stocking that didn’t have a loop for hanging.
So, as I waited in line at the customer service desk behind an older gentleman exchanging a malfunctioning flag holder (God Bless America!), I noticed a sign. It was obviously hung in honor of the holidays, and consisted of decorative text reading “The more the merrier.” And I just thought, “have we no shame?”.
“The more the merrier” is, in some alternate universe, supposed to refer to friends and family. Good will and generosity towards the poor. Love and camraderie. Not stuff. But seeing as how it was hanging up in a mega-store, I doubt that they were encouraging me to call a friend and wish her happy holidays. No, they were reminding me to buy more.
And I fall for it, too. When I went to the Christmas decorations section to find a replacement stocking, I also picked up a $3 strand of decorative beads because I thought they would look nice draped throughout the chandelier in the living room. A necessary expense? One that brings peace to the world and joy to the starving children of underprivileged countries? Of course not. But Christmas is about treating yourself, right?
Maybe it should be less about treating myself and more about treating other people. What a revolutionary concept! Maybe my Christmas budget should actually include an entry for charity. I’m ashamed to admit that it doesn’t. Because that only happens if we don’t go over budget on the rest of the baubles, decorations, etc. And that never happens.
What is even worse—the thought terrifies me. The thought of not getting so much stuff, even though I whine after the holiday is over about the excess. Too much eating, drinking, stuff with no home in our apartment …. And yet, I can’t contemplate not doing the holidays like that.
It’s already too late for me this year. (Since I am also obsessed with getting my shopping done early.) But maybe it will be my New Year’s Resolution: to rethink what “more” I want in my holidays.
