I love Christmas, but have been trying to wean myself off of the extravagant gift-giving for many years now, especially since retiring. The first year I tried to go "cold turkey" was miserable, so I'm doing it in slow motion now. Every year we lower the gift budget just a little bit more...it's hard, but necessary. I dread cutting people off my gift list, but next year we'll be cutting out two whole families whose children are grown and moved away. I've been sending each of the four adults and six children little gifts since they were born (~ 20 years for the oldest one), but figure it's time to stop now.

But at least we do our Christmas shopping in such a way that most of the bills are paid BEFORE Christmas...e.g., I keep my eye out for good gifts all year long and often pick them up when they're at good sale (or even clearance) prices; we use a dividend system that pays out every December; and we save up various store reward points and use them for the stocking stuffers.

[ December 01, 2005, 08:08 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]