On Growing Up

You would think that someone as interested in frugality as I am would be very happy about the current state of affairs - economic uncertainty, people reigning in their spending... and yet somehow, I can still find something to complain about. Today, it's presents.

I've been reading various posts about Christmas and people's strategies for coping with Christmas and I'm struck by one thing over and over again - the expectations, of grown up people - adults, if you will - that for no reason other than the passage of time, other people should spend money on them. These postings go on and on about debt and struggle, but still include tips on how to spend money at Christmas. The coping strategies I read about are things like setting dollar limits on gifts or buying for fewer friends. But I've got a better coping strategy.

How about letting your expectors know that they are big boys and girls now, and they need to wear their big boy or big girl pants. Prezzies are for children and whiney teenagers. Once we are all growed-up, if we want something, and we can afford it, we buy it. If we can't afford it, or decide that it's not a priority, we don't buy it (or shouldn't, but there's a tangent we'll never return from). Why on earth would we want anyone else to buy us anything? If we want it and we can afford it, we already own it. And if we don't have enough money to buy it ourselves, we certainly wouldn't want anyone else we cared about spending their money to buy it for us. That's not right at all, and it's certainly not in the Christmas spirit. So everyone should understand that if we don't own it already, we don't want it. Period.

So, for Christmas this year, instead of explaining to your friends and family that we in North America just have too much stuff and you will be cutting back or donating to charity in their name, why not just tell them to grow up and put their big boy pants on? That way, they will have money for things they want, you will have money for things you want, and no one will get a gift that nobody wants. Who knows, there might even be enough left over to spend on people whose wish lists include such extravagances as food or standard vaccinations.