(picture above of my mother's house this year)
I am sure I am not alone in missing my childhood perspective of the holiday season. The way every tree light, ornament, and garland filled the home with a magical feeling. I was very fortunate growing up and December meant a month of my mother’s Santa collection and piles of wrapped gifts for all the children. The best part of it all was everything was free! To me that is. Santa provides the gifts, right? Learning the true cost of my perfect Christmas has been one of the more bittersweet (stressful) parts of life. The spirit of giving can rack up quite the tab. When you factor in the money spent on holiday travel and decorations on top of gifts, Christmas quickly becomes a very expensive celebration. What is the Cost of Christmas? LendEDU surveyed 1,000 Christmas-celebrating consumers to find out.
In the year 2019 people spent on average $688 during the holiday season. One-fifth of Christmas celebrators however went into an average of $720 of debt due to added costs from the holiday season. Christmas Checklist: Tree, Lights, Garland, 200 Santa related figurines, Table Settings, matching PJ’s, Gifts for my 16 immediate family members & 4 friends.
It is not a wonder it can be a bit of a headache to manage especially when 57% of the money spent is on gifts. 2020 has been a long tough year and Christmas has my spirits up, but it is not the year to go overboard. Not in this economy! Remember if you just get the chance to spend some time with loved ones this year that means more now than ever! I missed my family for thanksgiving so the greatest gift this year will be my time with them.
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