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?

I've also seen you around quite a bit....unless I'm mistaken....

sparkling I am sorry to have caused you pain today - but I think you are very much onto something with the hiding AIBU.

well I am taking away the selection pack and the choc orange from this thread in all seriousness I keep seeing people mentioning they are going in stockings and forgetting to note that down for my dc, I was a deprived child and never had the choc orange experience it was satsumas and Brazil nuts for me..I may jazz it up to the zingy choc orange though.

thumb yikes, that with the sherry and mince pie enema from hell.

Somebody must be impersonating me.....

Me too,I recognise the OP.

Wouldn't call it pain. Bemused possibly. I am going to keep AIBU hidden for the time being. It's always even more bonkers at Christmas.

Ice, I've just read your angry-about-DD's-birth thread. What you went through was hideous. I'm so sorry. Some horrific stories in your replies, too.

I don't think the campaigns board gets too much traffic. Campaigns are usually nurtured through discussions around the issue, leading to a slow build-up, from what I can see.

I hesitate to suggest things like Christmas (which is illogical!) might seem insufferably schmaltzy to a person in the grip of so much unheard rage, or even that someone who's been cruelly hurt might feel hyper-vigilant about others exposing themselves to any kind of risk. So I'm not doing that

You deserve to be properly heard, though, about your awful experience.

Op indulged much?

Right well - I resolve to try my hardest not to think ill of people who choose to get into debt over xmas. I also resolve to buy xmas goodies for the local foodbank. I further resolve to stay the hell away from AIBU.

"LadySybilLikesCake Sat 22-Nov-14 22:41:25
Shouldn't criticise someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes."

if there was still quote of the week
this is what it should be

garlic oh - I couldn't find that thread - and I wanted to now I have an amazing therapist....

I really am a total idiot with MN these days.

People might remember me from 6 months ago when I was on all the time....

nixnjj - have his birthday at Christmas? One of my sibs was born on 25th December (poor mum!) so we celebrated their birthday a week earlier. Can you get away with doing the reverse?

Good to hear about the therapist! Best of luck :)

Thanks garlic.

Cheers, Samcro

op I have tried
but I can't find the thread you are angry about,
I wish I could
cos IT sounds like there is more to this than Christmas.
maybe you could pm me with a link

Brilliant - I found the thread! Right now to move the other one where it should go...although if it is in campaigns then maybe that is a better home for it.

Bloody hell - goady thread much? OP, as a PP has stated, try walking a mile in another person's shoes before making sweeping generalisations and adding further insults such as daft to your query.

I always thought the Campaigns one was for MNHQ to put Campaigns in themselves IYKWIM. If you report the thread to them they can decide where to put it for the best.

OP may not seem very empathetic but she makes some very important points.

I find it sad that people need to 'build up' Christmas to ridiculous heights, as if life is about surviving till the next injection of (artificial) joy. There should be many more joyous experiences throughout the year. Honestly, Christmas is like a religion for some. Which is kind of ironic really.

I find it sad that many people feel one or two modest gifts (or maybe one or two big gifts) and a nice meal makes a poor Christmas, to a great extent because other parents are giving 'piles' of gifts. Children will not be emotionally scarred because they only get one or two well thought out, modestly priced gifts from loving parents.

I find it sad that in order to compete effectively with other parents some have resorted to adding lots of essentials to the Christmas gifts so their child can have a pile too. Toiletries, pyjamas, clothes and a winter coat are not gifts if they are things your child needs anyway.

If you make such a big production of Christmas to start off with, you are making a rod for your own back, either because you need to keep outdoing yourself or because one day you might not be able to afford it.

I can understand people getting into a small amount of debt to have a modest Christmas, especially if they have a plan on how to pay it back quickly but often that's not what happens. Especially when people have to live up to the expectations they've created.

I wish everyone best of luck in getting the Christmas you hope for, and dream of a time when people don't measure love by how much money is spent.

Oh - I didn't know that. But maybe its just not of that much interest to anyone. I can totally believe it isn't.

Ask MNHQ Ice.

CharlestonChaplin, firstly you're making the assumption that people are going into debt to buy over the top things, which is often not the case. I know of several working families who need to go slightly into debt just to get a reasonable level of a couple of presents for the kids and a nice meal.

Secondly, I wonder how much you buy for your children? Or the OP? I wonder if you think that your children are worth nice things but you think other people's children should be happy with a tangerine and some oven chips on Christmas day? Perhaps you would even resent them having a second hand TV on which they could watch other children in the movies and adverts ripping open their presents and stuffing their faces when they've got nothing?