gifts

‘tis the season of expectations

~ nicoladonnelly ~ Leave a comment

It occurred to me while watching the ‘wrong’ Scrooge. That is the one from 1970 with Albert Finney. The 1951 film with Alistair Sim is the ‘right’ one. Obviously, The Muppets’ Christmas Carol is the best of the genre. Some things about Christmas can be disappointing. Maybe the Dickens book that pertains most to Christmas is actually Great Expectations. 

For the week before Christmas I get excited. Child-like excited. I get butterflies in my stomach. I enjoy the ‘to do’ list of festive things. I want to make it all perfect. Then I start to think about the supermarket ad version of Christmas. The big, bustling family. Games. Champagne in a big ice bucket. A perfectly fitting velvet dress. A handsome husband – OK I get that one, but no chance he’s wearing a suit. Snow falling. A puppy with a red bow around its neck. It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s a work of fiction. It’s a nonsense spreading to make us feel like somehow we are failing so we buy stuff and feel like we are winning.

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How can we get a sense of value at Christmas? I try to spend wisely

~ nicoladonnelly ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago I went to Tesco for some toothpaste on the way home from work. I ended up putting the Harpers Bazaar Christmas special, a Johanna Basford Christmas colouring book and Mr Kipling’s Christmas cake slices in my basket. That’s what happens to you at this time of year… you lose all your senses amongst the Christmas music, aisles of glitz and dreams of curling up in front of a fire with seasonal reading. I don’t even have a fire and I definitely haven’t read the magazine yet. I have started the colouring to get out of the ironing, though…

Most of us will spend much more in December than we earn. We might have started putting a bit of money away for the last few months in anticipation and many won’t have had that luxury due to the cost of everyday living and will be looking to credit cards and loans to get through Christmas. Regardless of how you plan for it all… chances are you have a growing list of expenditure for the next few weeks with no end in sight.

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