Free eBook | Holiday Spending

In our most hectic moments, we might call the holidays a giant bundle of stress. There’s family to coordinate, guests to entertain, kids to shop for and meals to plan. It all has to get done in the span of a few days. Those days are supposed to be a chance to unwind from the crush of work and school, but they instead become something to dread.

Throw a tightened budget on top of all that stress and it just gets worse. Consumers spent $626 billion on holiday gift-giving in 2015. That’s about three times more than what Americans gave to charity during the whole year. Stats like that really make it seem like holiday priorities may be a little out of whack.

It’s also a big part of what’s contributing to that bundle of stress. And yet, we still feel like we’re missing out on something. So every year, we plan to do more for the next year. More presents, more travel, more out-of-town guests, bigger meals, bigger trees, and add another dozen cookies to the holiday pile. With so much stuff surrounding them, it’s easy to lose track of the joy that we receive during the season.

It’s supposed to be fun to celebrate. These are supposed to be times to build memories, tell stories and celebrate the things that are important to us. The holidays are supposed to be meaningful.

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