Can any of Us Afford Christmas This Year?

Image by Zanastardust via Flickr

Carol M Creasey.

                          Can Any of Us Afford Christmas This Year?

What a year it has been. If you listen to the news, it’s all doom and gloom. This is the worst recession for over a decade we are told.  The housing market has collapsed, jobs have been lost, families struggle to buy food as the prices go up every week.  On top of that, Gas and Electric prices have gone up, and now the great British postmen have decided to strike, just at the time we are heading for Christmas, with all  the cards and greetings we want to send to people we may not be able to see at that time.

But retailers need Christmas to survive. It is their most important time of the year, so they will fill the windows with goodies to tempt us, put up bright decorations and Christmas trees, and do anything they can to encourage spending . The bigger stores, if there are any left now, will have Santa’s Grotto, just for the little children, and it will be hard for mum to say no to them, when they are captivated by the lure of pretty lights, and all the excitement  that goes with Christmas.

People who are still at work will say that they are not spending much this year, but at the last minute, out comes the plastic, as after all Christmas only comes once a year, and in one generous moment they will buy their loved ones something that they can’t really afford.

Those out of work have struggled all the year, but just for a couple of days they want to  treat themselves, so good luck to them. When you pay on plastic, it doesn’t seem real until the bill comes in. But 2010 will loom, quicker than we thought, and then it’s pay back time.

But Christmas shouldn’t be about what we spend, the most precious thing we have at Christmas is time, it doesn’t cost anything, and we should spend it wisely, with those we love. We don’t have to eat and drink ourselves silly. We just need to enjoy one another’s company.

Well it’s a good thought to hang onto, but let’s hope next year sees  a better economic future for all of us.