How to have a meaningful Christmas during a pandemic
I love Christmas. I love the reason why we celebrate, I love that I get together for my family and spend an entire day laughing, singing, eating, and eating some more.
So how will things be different this year?
In 2019, Americans spent, on average, $928.76[1] and Canadians, on average, $1,593[2] CDN ($1,195USD) on gifts, food, etc. This Christmas will certainly be different. Many cities are currently experiencing lock downs and the pandemic has inspired people to relook at their spending.
With the pandemic, I am sure that you have seen that the Christmas season sales push has started and there is a larger effort to draw in buyers earlier. Also, many retailers have stepped-up their online game to convince us to shop NOW. Retailers are thinking that consumers may have more spending money on-hand because there has been a decrease in spending ie: we all have not taken vacation and many people are working from home. But not everyone is in the same place. Many people have lost their jobs, been furloughed but, I believe, that we can all make the holidays special in unique and special ways.
Affirm recently asked 2,000 Americans about their shopping habits for the upcoming holiday season. Here are some of the findings:
Half of Americans are shopping online now for the holidays because they’re bored.
Forty-seven percent said they already started shopping for the holidays.
Forty-eight percent said they plan to buy gifts online in 2020.
About 70% said they’re more likely to buy items now instead of waiting for sales.
About 80% said they’d try to pay off all their purchases by Christmas.
Seventeen percent of people plan to travel this holiday season.
For many people the pandemic has dramatically affected their budgets, so here are a few ideas on how to save money for this Christmas.
Top 5 ways to save money on Christmas this year
1. Create homemade gifts - baking cookies, personalized t-shirts, pastries, etc.
2. Send digital greeting cards instead of mailing cards (I love sending and receiving Christmas cards as they always look nice on the mantel, but this year it will be e-cards!).
3. Have a Secret Santa for 1 adult in your family instead of buying gifts for everyone.
4. Only buy gifts for kids under 12.
5. Reuse decorations from previous years.
What do you think? How are you tackling the holidays this year? I am keen to hear/see your thoughts.
[1] https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/christmas-spending-statistics/
[2] https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/retail-consumer/2019-holiday-outlook-canadian-insights.html