lets look at the holidays for what they truly are, Christmas, Mothers day, Valentines day, halloween, they are all capitalist holidays. Many business and manufactures depend completely on the holidays to put them in the black for the year. Halmark would have went out of business years ago had it not been for Mothers day and Valentines day, candy makers and dentists would be looking for work if Hallowween didn't exist. And Christmas is the biggest capitalist holiday of them all, most businesses stay in the red all year and depend completely on Christmas to turn a profit. If you have ever wondered why this country above all others keeps the mythology alive and kicking, you need look no further than toys-r-us, a government mandated holiday where you are expected to spend money you don't have on things you don't need. Thats the American way. What we do is put off buying things we need till christmas then buy them for each other as presents, it still gives us that warm and fuzzy feeling but we aren't wasting money on fluff.

It's just the wife and I and it is a good time to look back and feel thankful for each other, so we sploil each other with a few hundred dollars worth of "wants" vs. needs.

It's usually something we wouldn't normally buy for ourselves but would appreciate as a gift. It's fun, rewarding, and a little nostalgic. Moreover, it maintains the spirit by being giving and thankful, ideals that we can never have too much of.

It is capitalism that employs people, so I gladly do my part to keep people employed and factories and shippers busy.

We get so wrapped up in all of the hype of the shopping, the gift giving, and the getting that we are blind to what the true spirit of the season is. We should be giving gifts to each other for a 'just because' instead of 'well, it's the holidays again and it's required that I get you something'. Unfortunately, we have been given this message by retailers all of these years that if we don't give something other than love and appreciation to our loved ones that we're going to be as evil as Scrooge and shunned by society in general.

I hope that this economy has show all of us that we don't need materialistic, capitalistic ideals to show our love and appreciation to those we know and love.

We have employees, children,grandchildren, relatives, parents, teachers....who we very much appreciate. We spend at least 5.000 but spread it out over many people. (bonuses, etc.) We also have 2 birthdays in December, which raises the budget. This year, the plan is to make many gifts...but you still have to spend to do that. Regardless of what we spend, it's the family time that counts!

I would really like that cupcake car with the matching hat but it would take me forever to get to work.

I'm baking presents this year! Oh, wait, sugar, flour, butter, chocolate... pricey too. When I have money to spare, I spare no expense, and try to light up a few lives. Just not this year with the current economic situation, and, yes we try to keep Christ in Christmas.

Our kids get three presents. If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for them. We make lots of cookies and give them to friends and neighbors. Stockings are small trinkets. The first couple of Christmases, we went OVERBOARD and the kids didn't enjoy any of it. They were overwhelmed and didn't know what to play with first. Now we definitely spend less than $500 and we're more relaxed. We also do not buy things for in-laws or grown-ups. Christmas is for children. There is too much pressure on trying to achieve the "picture perfect" Christmas.