700–1000. That’s the average number of pounds we spend in the UK each year, per person, on Christmas presents (In the US, based on 2022 expenditure, the total amounts to $870 per person).
With a population of over 67 million people spending between £700-£1000 on average (let’s go for the median and say £850), that’s a staggering fifty-six billion nine hundred and fifty million pounds being spent every year on Christmas in the United Kingdom. Almost 57 billion pounds- eyewatering- being spent on things that, most of the time, we don’t even need, lining the, already multi-billionaire’s pockets, while we stress ourselves out buying wholly unnecessary* gifts.
*(Don’t tell me your sister needs that screaming goat toy)…
‘Look what I’ve got from Waitrose, organic sprouts!’
‘But none of us even like sprouts, Mum??’
‘I know but it’s Christmaaaas!’
It’s not just presents that we’re spending loads of money on, either, but food too…
Christmas Dinner = The World’s Most Expensive Sunday Dinner
We end up spending hundreds of pounds on a Christmas dinner, no different to the Sunday dinner we have literally every Sunday, but because it’s the 25th of December, instead of it costing the usual, what, £15 per person?, it costs £100 per person. Ridiculous. And, even if we don’t go out for Christmas dinner, even if we stay at home, make dinner ourselves, it’s still extortionate…
Whereas we’d usually do our weekly shop at Asda, we have to go to Waitrose, spending double, triple, quadruple our usual amount on ‘all the trimmings’, half of which will go uneaten anyway…
(Sprouts, I’m looking at you)…
’Tis The Season Of Giving Love, Not Pointless ‘Things.’
Now, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, or like a ‘killjoy’ here, but I also don’t want people who struggle to put food on the table on the average weekday to feel pressured to have to fork out several hundreds of pounds that they can’t afford to spend just because ‘it’s the season of giving.’
More than giving and receiving gifts, just take a moment to reflect on what Christmas is actually all about, traditionally… A religious festival with family- spending time with our loved one’s at its centre, not mass consumption.
It is our society, one which thrives off the back of capitalism, that has turned Christmas into what we think of it as today, with the traditional values that Christmas is centred on- appreciation and gratitude for all that we have, coming secondary, being replaced with greed and a sense of needing more, and thus, by right of passage, thinking that what we already have isn’t enough, that we are somehow lacking…
The proposed ‘solution’ to all our problems? The latest iPhone (it will only set you back a grand!), as ads have us believe, despite this, of course, being wholly untrue, for money can’t buy happiness.
( ^ ) Not just a cliched quote, but a fact.
‘Money Can’t Buy Happiness- Correct- But It Can (& Does) Buy UNhappiness.’
While money can’t buy happiness, incessantly spending money that we don’t have, taking loans out in some cases, not because we ‘need’ to, (again, does your sister really need that screaming goat toy)?, but because we feel as though we have to/that we have no choice for it’s the ‘done thing’, doing this can (and does) buy unhappiness, without a doubt.
Important To Note…
!! To be clear, I’m not proposing that you do a complete hiatus on Christmas this year, by the way… When Christmas, and the gift giving that Christmas is associated with, is so engrained in our culture, to sit by while everyone in your family is giving each other presents, empty handed, is unlikely to come across great for you…
The best outcome would see us all agreeing to limit gift giving to one gift per person, for example, agreeing to ‘not go overboard’/to only get things with a ‘practical’ purpose. But, if you don’t want to preach anti-capitalism while your family are getting in the festive spirit (it probably would be a slight mood killer, I can’t lie), then you could make an agreement with yourself, as is something that I have personally done.
Why I’m Buying ‘Experiences‘ This Year, Not ‘Things.’
This year, rather than buying ‘things’, I’m buying ‘experiences.’ Because, unlike a physical ‘thing’ that will probably just get put in a drawer somewhere and be forgotten, only to resurface a year later (and that’s being generous) dust covered and unused, experiences stay with us in the form of memories, with this, the formation of memories, being more in line with the actual purpose of Christmas- spending time with our loved ones. What’s more, if you’re buying experiences, then unless you’re sending your family/friends away on their own, then you’re probably going to be going with them, so really, you’re gifting yourself a present too- a win-win!
The Memories That Gifting Experiences Offers Is Worth One Hundred (+ Many, Many More Zero’s) Times The Ego Boost/Sense Of Fleeting Satisfaction That Being Given ‘Stuff’ Offers...
So, why not try gifting your loved ones fewer things to look at this year and more things to do, together. You don’t need to take a bank loan out to do this, you don’t need to get every member of your family front row tickets to see their favourite band live in concert.
Got a cinema near you? Why not look at what films are showing and book some tickets? Or create your own ‘movie night’, with a DVD and some popcorn. Often people will appreciate things like this more, things which you have genuinely thought about, things which allow you to spend time together, than they will an expensive bag, or the latest phone.
The Conclusive ‘Anti-Capitalist’ Gift Buying Guide…
So, as the countdown to Xmas 2023 is on (this time next month it will be Christmas Eve!), I encourage you all to:
- Gift ‘things’ (experiences) with meaning.
- Gift from the heart, not from the ‘oh-my-god-it’s-christmas-eve-and-i-still-haven’t-got-my-mum-anything-but-i-need-to-get-her-something-so-i’ll-just-grab-the-first-thing-i-see-oh-another-yankee-candle-yes-that-will-do’ head.
- But, if you are stuck on Christmas Eve searching for a last minute gift, (shit happens, life’s hectic), then try to give your custom to independent businesses where your money actually goes to the workers, rather than the likes of Amazon, multi-national corporations where your money goes to the billionaires who do nothing.
Portfolio of Hope 