AIBU to think it is REALLY daft to get into debt buying xmas presents etc.

[IceBeing]

Do people really go into debt over christmas and if so, why?

IceBeing Sat 22-Nov-14 22:40:26
samcro what? you only make two days a year special coz you don't know how long you have?

Here in the land of smuggery perfectness we make EVERY day super special, full of high quality opportunities for personal growth.

Its the reason that xmas means so little....

oh dfod
you don't get it do you
not at all
sadly a lot of people do ( i WISH THEY DIDN'T)
you are just goady as fuck

Its the reason the santa bringing presents for good people business is a crock.

If you have ever read any threads on MN about FC you will know everyone has totally different ways of doing it, ie some will say he just delivers all the presents, some say only the stocking the dp do main ones, in some houses there is other family members to buy so parents do xmall token gifts, in some families there is no one else to buy and the dp buy all.

Some people do not like FC to get credit for the more expensive gifts, to some people Christmas is modest and devoid of the latest tech. some people only do one expensive item and that's it.

Its been said so many times before but FC is a feeling its a synergy of something else..a present under the tree from mum is of course lovely, its a present, its exciting, but the present thats come from the north pole, on a sleigh pulled by reindeer is something else....

Ice-if you link to your thread I will answer having had experience of both.

forgot point which was people dont always say children naughty or nice etc. most people do it however it suits them,

mrs D in reality it is a TAAT. I was genuinely surprised that people go into £500 debt or more for xmas.

It is also true that nobody reads sitestuff.

It's all coming out now Ice you had a chocolate orange and a selection pack, so not a bad Christmas after all.

dame it is in sitestuff.....it was asking about whether MN would consider doing a survey on birth trauma....

There isn't in reality any connection whatsoever between the two threads. I just find it slightly depressing how much more MN cares about some things than others.

Samcro....

I noticed that....

Op's Goad of oblivion there just said it all really.

yes loved those selection packs sparkling, i used to get left one on new years morning, but one year it wasnt there I kept forcing myself back to sleep to wake up and hope but no, that was it never again.

I posted a very serious thread about birth trauma and PTSD and got exactly one reply

Thats MN for you, I am sure most of us have also posted on more serious things and not got a reply, i know I have.

i dont then go and post like this to get people to engage with me.

Do you know what IceBeing I agree with the sentiment behind what you are saying. Christmas has become a Capitalist construct and using credit to fund it (and to be clear, I do) is actually fucking ridiculous.

However, as so many people have pointed out it's just not black and white is it? There's no right and wrong. It would be brill all round if Children just got a chocolate orange and a Brazil nut in a stocking and enjoyed the sense of community and family that Christmas is about. It would take a pretty strong and clued up 5-10 year old to not want all the razzmatazz and such.

It would be nice if things were different but to criticise people for doing what they want to make Christmas nice for their DC isn't nice.

knitted well I can sort of see why presents from the north pole would have a certain mystique about them....or is it the smell of reindeer piss?

it was asking about whether MN would consider doing a survey on birth trauma....

Birth trauma has been spoken about in length on here time and time and time again.

queiro I agree with you 100% on all counts.

It is a total capitalist headfuck.

But it isn't individual parents getting caught up in that are at fault.

I will genuinely try to be less of a dickhead in future.

There's debt and debt. Fair enough to be a bit overdrawn and try and make it up after Christmas. Another thing to go wild on spending with no thought to how you're going to pay it back. That's just madness and you aren't really doing your family any favours.

Thank you, OP for acknowledging that no, not all debt is a choice. Especially when it is caused by birth trauma and PTSD as it actually was in our case, with a side order of clinical depression and anxiety = unable to cope = debt.

God you sound hateful.

It's in Mumsnet Campaigns Ice. Have MNHQ moved it from Site Stuff?

So because you feel another of your posts didn't get the attention it deserved you felt justified in posting a deliberately goady thread knowing that there may be people here writing down how they can skim a £5 off the shopping, or a short payment on the gas ect just to provide a basic no thrills Christmas for their children while feeling like a complete failure.

Nice

Oh come on guys - I didn't really start this in a fit of annoyance. I started it in a fit of surprise at the idea people would go into debt over xmas.

Sparkling oh - erm...is campaigns inside sitestuff?

I can't believe that so many people are so pompous and up their own arses. It must be lovely to live in a perfect world where something as simple as wanting your children to have a nice Christmas is sneered at. Luckily, this year I won't get into debt but for a long time there the only way I could manage anything was to buy it on credit cards. My son has never had extortionate presents and a lot of the time if he wants something big (one year he wanted an ipad) I make a contribution and he saves his money from other family members and buys it after Xmas. How would you explain to your child that there are no presents this year but its ok because mummy has paid the gas bill?

I started it in a fit of surprise at the idea people would go into debt over xmas

I dont know how old you are but this is nothing new.

Jeez it is a really bad idea to attempt irony/sarcasm or plain jokey lying on the internet isn't it.

Oh well...my MN reputations will be in tatters....