Just stop all this crap buying?

Well I don't like your attitude towards the religious side of it.

But I do think that overconsumption is horrible for the environment. I think Christmas used to be simpler and actually happier. The increased expectations just add stress for a lot of people.

Our Christmas tends not to be Instagram worthy but more Peter Kay emergency chairs type.

Agree. It's all so stressful too .

I think the issues can arise when people feel the need to spend a certain amount of money, or buy presents for people they barely see one year to the next.
People I think expected gifts to be bigger, or more expensive, from the 1980's onwards.
My aunts used to give me a chocolate stocking when I was a child, or as I aged a tin of biscuits. I can only imagine the shock if I gave my nieces and nephews a tin of biscuits now.

There's always one who thinks unless you are living in a cave and eating berries then you have no place to comment. Total lack of critical thinking.

Please tell us which ones so I know what is considered inferior? 🤣

@estrogone
People still had brilliant Christmas’s before tat though.

The problem is too much of anything devalues it. That’s why I think it’s problematic to start Christmas in November . It’s hard to stay celebratory, embrace the spirit of Christmas in the wrong season.!

October last year my sil and bil asked their two children to list some of the gifts they received Christmas 2023. They couldn’t remember a single thing so they rewrapped them and gave it to them last Christmas. They intend to do the same this year - not with the exact same gifts but with other stuff received from family members or birthdays. They are not at all tight but also like you fed up with the overconsumption of it. They have always been big on volunteering and this year started taking the kids with them.

When they’re old enough to start remembering they are going to say that there'll be little token gifts but will prioritise trips and experiences throughout the year. Decembers will be heavily focused on help those in need (they volunteer regularly but will do a lot more during the festive season to counter the consumerism.)

YANBU. I try not to get sucked in but it's hard. We re-use decorations year-on-year. I love getting out the ones the now-teen DC made at nursery and primary school. We buy one tree decoration each year, usually on holiday. Our extended family does a secret Santa. DH and the DC get clothes, books, school supplies, chocolate and something they really want. It's not miserable and it's not piles of tat.

If you're getting this upset about a few sweet treats OP it's time to out your phone down and go for a walk.

Maybe she had the right idea. Social obligation fulfilled in one shopping trip, cost per family member was very low, nobody got bucket loads of cheap imported tat. Probably some of those tubs still circulating school raffles, though by modern standards it's probably quite good chocolate now

That is true as well. But I think ppl find it hard not to. Especially if others put pressure .

Maybe they don’t. Maybe they just want them. Maybe they feel it creates happy memories. Who says we are only allowed to buy things we need? Maybe we should just let people spend their money on whatever they like and stop judging people who make different choices to the ones we’d make?

And that is part of the problem as well. If finances are an issue, there should not be the expectation to buy Adults gifts. They do not need a cheap tub of rubbish chocolate.

A other lecture from the woke superior being. Yippeeee.

Hope people buy more than ever this Xmas.

I’m getting my grandchildren a couple of small jute Santa bags a couple of things inside and a bit of soot sprinkled on top they will be obviously placed by the fireplace then hopefully they will think Santa came down the chimney

Our Puritan ancestors would be so happy to see the Puritan spirit is alive and well 😉

I think we're all suffering from boiled frog syndrome. Consumerism was already rife in the 80s-90s but things then were relatively expensive and most people on average wages couldn't afford the frenetic consumption that is considered the bare minimum now. In the last 20 years or so, things have really accelerated, to the point where most of what we buy has been intentionally produced to be thrown away shortly after purchase. We all "deserve it" and everything needs to be "special", "luxury", "high end" or a "treat". Buy now, think later - or better, don't think at all. Gobble up all the ads, all the SM posts, all the marketing disguised as articles/films/art. It's completely insane.

Bravo

Plenty of us re-use decorations year after year. Some of ours date back many decades, even to the 1950s. And there are many families the same.

Maybe with so many family members that's all she can afford.

Maybe you need to take the same advice...🤦🏻‍♀️

I think it's sad that Christmas has become about quantity and consumerism. It used to be an actual treat.

A child of the 80s, I used to love Christmas for the novelty of (for example) being allowed to eat Quality Street after a big dinner.

Quality Street taste horrible now, and with sugary snacks seeming to become part of the modern diet, there's not much novelty about eating UPF in front of the TV.

I remember about 12 years ago I served a lady buying about 60 tubs of inferior chocolate. She said that she has done her Christmas gift shopping in that visit. I’m glad I’m not related to her. As she would give every family member a tub of these.

Balance is easy.

You stop buying for adults - we have done this in our family. You consciously choose consumables for things like stocking fillers and not crappy plastic toys, just buy chocolate, sweets, shower gels, fancy hot chocolate - whatever the recipient likes. Ask for experiences rather than more stuff - tickets to the pantomime, annual pass to your local wildlife park, voucher for the local tapas restaurant etc. That way you are still gift-giving, not contributing to the amount of shite going to landfill AND supporting local business. (DH is getting an axe-throwing voucher from me this year).

Or you just say "let's go out for a meal rather than doing presents this year".

Ah, the joy of the mumsnet moaning seasons.

Go outside and get some fresh air if you're getting worked up about people enjoying their lives.