I have been hearing report after report of how the American economy is down and how spending this Christmas is also falling short of average. Though with my first visit to the stores once arriving in California, this was not noticeable at all. The stores and parking lots are completely filled. So I guess there are two possible scenarios. People are not doing as bad as the reports are saying. They are not losing their homes or their jobs. The US has not been influenced by having to bail out the banks and the largest automobile companies. Everything is going great here in the US. Or people are spending money and going further in debt even though they are struggling just to pay the mortgage or rent.

I think the problem is the social pressure people feel about having to purchase gifts at Christmas. People still like to believe that Christmas is about being with family and giving to others, but the holiday has been brutally commercialized. Each store and company telling you how great you are (or will be seen) for getting everyone on your list their product. The companies know that the more stressed out the shoppers are about having to purchase everything on their list, plan their dinners and events, the less price savy they are. People plan to get better deals during the Christmas season, but the local news station reported a few days ago that most products they have been tracking have actually risen.

Now don’t get me wrong, I actually love the Christmas season. Or at least, I used to. It was the one time of year that people seemed to be more decent to each other. Though I grew up quite poor, Christmas was the one time when that seemed to go away for a little bit, and it was the one time of the year that the family got together as an actual family. This just isn’t the case anymore.

People are now pressured into buying the best gifts they can afford (or can’t afford) to make sure they don’t look bad. Parents end up in fist fights to get their hands on the last tickle me Elmo for kids who already have everything. People pile themselves into shopping malls not because they want to purchase gifts, but because they feel obligated to. People talk about Christmas as the season of giving, but how many of us give something to charity or to someone who really needs it. How many of us really go out of our way to help someone in need during this season. No, instead we go we purchase unneeded gifts for our friends and family who already have everything. We shove our way in line and drive faster to make sure we get the parking spot before someone else.

So how do you get away from the commercialism of Christmas and the bad Christmas energy? These are a few of the ideas that I have…

• Tell everyone that you are giving money to charities and will not be buying gifts. This is not only helping someone who needs help, but teaches children more than just getting presents.

• Limit gift buying to only your immediate family and limit the amount of gifts to one or two. How will kids learn to appreciate anything when they have everything.

• Celebrate Christmas during a different time. We put ourselves through hell trying to hit all the sales, compete for parking spaces, and stand in long lines. Celebrate Christmas in January and you can save a lot of money. There will be lots of after Christmas sales, returned goods that will be discounted and Christmas decorations will all be on huge discount.

• Create your own Christmas with your own rules. There is no law saying that Christmas has to be celebrated a certain way. Most of us celebrate Christmas a certain way because it is the way our families did it, but you can do it the way you want. In fact, this is true of most things in life.

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