Going Broke In The Name of The Holiday Spirit

As much as I try, I can’t get into the holiday spirit. Nothing dramatic happened to me around the holidays to make me not like being in the holiday spirit, it just seems like I am not meant to be jolly.

This year I wanted to change my mood so I decided to make a stronger effort to get into the holiday spirit.

I thought maybe getting a Christmas tree would help get me in the mood since I haven’t had one since I moved out of my parents’ house. Certainly having a Christmas tree or a reef, if I needed to take baby steps, would surely have me singing along to “Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer.”

With this in mind, last Sunday I made it to the gate of the Christmas tree lot in my neighborhood. There was no entrance fee that I needed to pay, however, I couldn’t bring myself to cross the line to enter the lot as if I thought I’d be electrocuted.

Instead, I stood right outside the lot looking slightly stalker-ish as I watched others picking out their Christmas trees. I had hoped being this close to a Christmas tree would spark a memory to ignite my jolly mood during the holidays. It did the exact opposite.

It helped me recall all the reasons why I’m unapologetically not a fan of this season.

Going Broke to Show Your Love

A survey conducted after the 2015 holiday shopping season uncovered that consumers added nearly $1,000 to their credit card debt balances with purchases made during the holiday season. Let that sink in. That’s $1000 you didn’t have that is now being added on top of your current debt issues.

What I don’t understand about this time of the year is why people willing choose to go broke to show their love for another? If you didn’t have the money last month, how do you miraculously have money to spend during the holidays?

And I’m not saying don’t buy gifts for your loved ones. What I am saying is why not try buying sensible gifts within a budget that does not add $1,000 or more to your debt?

Even Charlie Brown in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” knew not to buy into the commercialization of the holiday season.

At the core, the holiday spirit is about the time spent with the ones you love. The ability to share you, which is a unique gift, is one of the most valuable gifts we can share. It’s also one of the most undervalued gifts even though giving yourself does not affect your credit score.

Think about Charlie Brown the next time you get ready to pull out your credit card to purchase a lavish gift all in the name of having the holiday spirit and ask yourself, “What would Charlie Brown do?”