Has the economy affected your holiday shopping?
Stores across the country are offering steep discounts in order to ring up sales. Is that enticing you to shop, or did you curb your holiday spending? If you’re cutting back, what are you forgoing? If you’re still spending, what deals are you seeking?
Small changes, I went back to my old, frugal shopping habits, got my kids things they would use, instead of the latest and greatest game/toy/electronic device.
They were thrilled with what they received, and my bank account didn’t take a huge hit. I had saved all year for Christmas, and still spent less than 25% of what I had put away, so we have a head start for the vacation fund, or the emergency fund if the economy gets even worse.
And I agree wholeheartedly with one poster, the key to a strong economy is JOBS. No income? No spending
I can’t find anything to buy retailers have cut invenorties so much they don’t have anything to sell. Example I went to two Lowes and two Wal-Marts and a home depot to buy a heaters for an out door party and none of them had one not even one.
One of the true problems with retail is this, all of the major chains have the same product.
The buyers are accountants, this used to be a glam job that is now run by number crunchers and therefore they buy the same Ralph Lauren that you can get at the Lauren shop. So if you are offering nothing new. How can you possibly expect people to go out and spend, did the retailers think that We were going to buy the same things that we bought last year?
I did not spend the way that I’ve done it the past. It would be like re-gifting. At 50% 0ff, still at a 500% mark up. That would have been LAME.
We continue to do our part supporting the economy. Our family is self employed and we are in charge of our future “to a point”.
The Media is the true culprit today!
The more the media continues to advertise retails downs, Bailouts and public downspiral spending, no one will have the confidence in themselves to maintain existing spending.
Retailers should operate with similar margins as the rest of the business’s trying to make it in todays economy.
I spent as little as possible, purchasing only a few books as gifts and reduced driving to only when necessary – it’s my new policy in reaction to OPEC’s desire to raise prices.
2001: bush tells us to go shopping so as to not let the terrorists win. 2004: greenspan assures us there is no housing bubble. fast forward to election season 2008: we’re being given lectures by everyone from joe biden to henry paulson to sarah palin, telling us we’ve bought things we didn’t need and houses we can’t afford and who do we think we are. now, we’re being told that we need to shop more because we’re in a recession due to consumer behavior.
the whole thing is ridiculous.
I purchase Christmas gifts all year long and I rely heavily upon online retailers for my remaining shopping at Christmastime.
When I shop online I use comparison shopping services like bizrate.com and shopzilla.com to get the best deal for my dollars and I try to finish all my shopping for the holidays by the end of November, after which prices seem to soar higher and higher as Christmas approaches.
I tend to rely only on those online retailers who have given me excellent customer service in the past when possible, and I use an American Express card, which seems to eliminate major problems with fraud and identity theft.
yes – I am definitely cutting back on shopping …. the stores do have discounts but selling the same old stuff I saw a month ago …. feels good though, to have saved $$
Holiday spending is way down this year. It hasn’t made a big difference in my approach to the Holiday. It’s always been about a celebration of Jesus and His teachings, family, togetherness, giving — we’ll still gather at one member’s home, exchange gifts and share a large meal and each other. You can’t ask or expect more than that.
No, not at all, my son gets a check for 350 dollars. I bought a 30 dollar wallet discounted to 8 dollars and a Macy’s clearance rack top and pants for 16 dollars total for myself. This would be the norm. I’m not going cheap because I have a ton of cash saved up.
YES! The negative press has scared me half to death. So now I spend only the minimum to in order to get by. Last night we had Purina Cat Chow lasagna. It was delicious. As for Xmas gifts, forget about them, unless it’s food.
I cut my Christmas spending by 100%. I called the people I love, and wished them a Joyful Christmas instead. Christmas should be about spending time with Family and Friends, not shopping.
We’ve definitely curbed our spending. We spent about half what we normally spend, and concentrated on the grandkids rather than our kids.
I won’t go into a lot of detail but here’s a short version of my Christmas: My husband and I went bankrupt on Dec 3rd (Chapter 7) and we are trying to save up money to rent an apartment/house because we are going to be forced to move by approx. Feb 1st. I’ve been so upset and in a moment of anger/depression I put all of our Christmas stuff X-mas tree lights, bulbs, outside Santa & Frosty, etc.) out by the road for someone to take and I dumped my 16 year old daughters, $30 worth of gifts out on the floor and declared that we were not going to have Christmas this year. After my emotions passed I realized that I was relieved. It was over. I didn’t feel obligated to do anything for anyone and I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. Although, I did wind up buying my daughter some gift anyway, but I felt good about it. I only spent about $90 but it will probabley be her best Christmas ever because I did things that mean something not just cost something; such as I bought a picture frame that say’s “My First Year” and I put 5 pictures in it – Birth, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year pictures of her in it. I’m also giving her some of her heirloom type gifts and savings bonds that I had been holding for her from previous years and put them in the lock box that I bought her for Christmas. The point is: It really isn’t about the money. The more money I’ve spent the more miserable I’ve been and the less Christmas has meant to me. Now, I can’t wait for Christmas Day and I didn’t even have to decorate!
no change, my nieces and nephew are making out again this year. mostly Disney stuff, Wall*E toys, the remote control ones. some cars, and board games, and lincoln logs. what the heck. looking fwd to my stimulus check.
we definetely spent less, passing by all the impulse items. we have spent 1000+ per kid (4)in years past but this year budgeted about 350 per kid. this christmas will not be like years past in that they will probably enjoy and USE what they get rather than unwrapping things that never get looked at again. we did spend some money on the pervasive food drives and sponsored a “wish list” kid. i for one hope we get back to celebrating the reason for the season….the birth of Jesus Christ! merry christmas!
I/we spent somewhat more this year than last year, in part because we know our relatives’ incomes are down this year while ours are up somewhat.
Despite the arbitrary bans on shorting stocks, it was still a good year for shorting.
The market conditions have put a stop to the excessive spending of many consumers.
Me, I will have to cut back 10 fold to a total $200.00.
But I am a renter, so I have some extra cash.
I feel compassion for all the homeless children out there who will rely on charities for help because there families have been decimated by poverty and exacerbated by the market conditions.
I also feel sorry for the children of home owners.
My rent is $900.00 per month.
Most mortgages start at $2000.00.
Their family budgets must be so over stressed it will be hard for Santa to do any substantial work this year.
Let’s hope next year we can all recover some sanity.
Won’t they ever get it? Consumer spending is not the CAUSE of a strong economy, it is the RESULT of a strong economy. When Reagan and Clinton and the Bushes declared war on the middle class with their union busting and NAFTA style trade agreements, they were destroying the ability of the consumer to consume. To restore America’s industrial base, to break up the concentration of wealth and power in this country, and to restore union wages, benefits, pensions, and health care is a Herculean task that will take many years, if it’s possible at all. To squeeze blood (money) out of the American taxpayer with some sales tax gimmick without restoring the taxpayers decent paying and stable job is fruitless.
Instead of the latest tech gadgets, I bought loads of GM stock for friends. Sure, GM stock might be worthless by next year, but so would the latest gadgets of 2008. As my company had 20% lay-offs last month, I’m bulking up savings for when my number’s up.
I originally bought my wife a fur because I got such a great deal on it. Unfortunately she found out about it and made me return it.
I definitely spent less this year. Actually I think I spent the right amount. In years past I likely spent too much.
I don’t think that a sales tax holiday will matter to me. Saving 6% is really irrelevant when prices are advertised without tax included to begin with.
My wife and I decided last year that we can not meet the 12/25 deadline. The pressure was killing us, as parents of six kids and both with jobs in customer service, the month of December is a nightmare, work 14-16 hr days for 8 hours pay, and try to go to all the school concerts, parties, and what not, we found ourselves exhausted.
We now have the Holiday on the third Sunday of January. The cost of presents goes down after Christmas and we save. When we need a tree we can take our pick of all the ones waiting in the trash from our neighbors after the first of the year. Even the cost of the dinner is less, after all the hype dies down in January.
What ever happened to the joy in the celebration of the birth of the son of the Almighty?
We the consumers are not going to be responsible for upholding the U.S. Economy.
I’m not changing anything about spending for Christmas. I was taught to plan and budget. My husband and I save a certain dollar amount for specific items (ie; Christmas, vacations, other house projects) throughout the year so that when the time comes, there is money available without sacrificing our bills.
I have been changing my christmas buying habits slowly for years. I think that Christmas in the US is far too commericalized and needs to be cut back. While this Christmas will be painful for the retailers in the long run it might be best for the consumers and the retailers if we all re-think Christmas and not be so materialistic.
Everyone I normally give to over the age of 21 is getting homemade wine, homemade beer, and/or homemade lotions.
My sisters and I just engaged in an entire week end candy making binge.
We replaced 100’s of $ worth of shopping with less then 100$ of sugar, butter and assorted additions.
And had a really great time doing it too.
The economy has definitely affected our holiday shopping this year. I estimate we spent about 10% less this year than last year. Mainly we have stopped picking up the incidental smaller things – “Oh, wouldn’t so-and-so like that?” (grab). And one family member requested we make a donation to a food bank in lieu of buying her gifts. The economy will also affect our post-Christmas spending – we will be mostly avoiding the sales that may tempt us to spend more.
Dear Obama, if you make the stock market go back up, i promise i will cash in my IRA and buy more stuff with it.
No changes here…. I was overhearing people that had to sit down with their families to explain why Christmas was not going to be a large this year as in years past. In years past, everyone thought I was the cheapest person on earth. But this year, my girls will not realize that things are rough, there is no change to the amount we will spend on them. We spend about $100.00 a piece on them each year and that is it. No big ticket items = no change for them due to economic reasons. I am trying to get them to reject the commecialism and consumerist attitudes of the society we live in.
Here’s the deal, if anyone in our government and the business leaders of this country have even a half of a brain in their greedy little pea brains they will realize that all the tax breaks and incentives will not change this situation. If others are like me they’re not spending money because they’re not sure they will have a job in near future. If I knew my job was secure I would continue to work on my house and build my furniture etc. etc. Reality has set in…the middle class is not the eternal, vast, mass center of continuous exploitability that the ruling class loves to hate but needs to prop up their precious GDP figures. GM & Dell can suck on it like everyone else until they put some jobs back in this country.