Whether you like it or not, the Holidays are here.  In the US, it all kicks off with Thanksgiving which happens upon us next week.  But that also means that the day after – a day known as Black Friday – starts the shopping frenzy for Christmas and Hanukkah (and a few others around that time).  Then there’s New Years Eve, New Years Day and all the private celebrations jammed in there.  As children, we’re told that it’s a season to love, care and respect for each other.  We’re told that we are to think of others, and it’s a time for family.  But as we all grow up, our rose colored glasses start to fade and we realize it’s all a farce.  Looking around at the state of commerce at this time, I wonder:  Have we all missed the point?  Are we all out of our damn minds?

I had always known that the holidays were growing more and more commercial every year.  Maybe I was growing older and just becoming more aware, but it seems like every year, more and more money gets spent on the holidays.  If it’s not the companies trying to capitalize on it, it’s the parents giving bigger and bigger gifts to their children in the name of a big elf that lives at the North Pole.  I used to think the Jewish had it right, limiting it to eight gifts.  But even some of them have bowed to capitalism, offering bigger and more expensive presents – and some are breaking the eight gift tradition now.  Oh but wait a minute…Christmas and Hanukkah aren’t even the highest of holidays for each religion!  Even so, the holidays continue on, the Juggernaut that it is.

As sad as the holidays have become, this all never really bothered me that much.  But then we had the recession.  Millions of people without work, the majority of the balance of us struggling to make ends meet.  You’d think we would have all learned something about money by now.  But we haven’t.  I was in line the other day at a local big box store in the aisle next to someone getting a head start on their Christmas shopping.  She was asking all sorts of questions about return policies and whether should would get price honors if an item went on sale on Black Friday and so on.  Then cashier stated the total, which was just shy of $2500 for mostly toys, and of course she payed with her discover card.  That’s when it hit me:  We can’t afford to live the holidays as we do.  I does not make sense to go into debt just to give materialistic gifts to one another.  It’s insanity that we would put ourselves further into debt for the sake of a holiday.  what happened to family?  What happened to caring and sharing?  Does that directly translate to money spent on someone in this day and age?  That’s sad.  And to some extent, I also feel it’s part of the reason we’re in this mess.

Now I don’t really know this woman’s circumstances.  She may very well be able to pay for all this stuff flat-out, and she could have plans to pay the bill as soon as she gets home.  But we are in a plastic card society, and many of us whip out the credit cards far more often than we should.  I’ve heard all the excuses from money-back and frequent flyer miles right up to deferring the payment until payday.  But if you look at the fine print, you’re not doing yourself any favors.  There’s a cash-back limit on many of those cash-back cards.  The cards with rewards programs often have higher interest rates as well – not an issue if you can pay it off.  But these companies wouldn’t be in business if everyone paid off their cards before their balances accrued interest.  So it’s safe to say that the majority of credit-bearing consumers don’t pay things off immediately.  Which raises the question as to why we’re buying so many materialistic things that we can’t afford to pay for in cash right now.  You don’t need that iPad.  Your five year old does not need a TV in his room.  Your three year old does not need an overpriced American Girl Doll, regardless of how many of her friends have it.  Most of all, you don’t need to be paying off that debt throughout the next six months.  The $2500 that woman spent at target would cover my electric bill for an entire year.  It would even pay for all of my car’s gas for the year.  $2500 doesn’t sound like much until you put it in that perspective.  But I believe we lost our perspective there.  Just like we’ve lost our perspective of the holidays.

So the holidays are coming up.  Let’s try not to get excited about the gift giving.  Let’s instead look forward to spending time with our families, or taking much needed vacation time.  Let’s toss back a few beverages instead of giving your mom that MacBook Air that she inevitably will never learn how to use.  But most importantly, don’t make this economy worse for the sake of a what the retail world has brainwashed us to believe is the core of the season.  I’m here to tell you it’s not that.

The spirit of the holidays is absolutely one-hundred percent free.