Merry(?) Christmas!

When you say Merry Christmas... What are you really saying?

Joyful. To me, that's what Christmas is! I love the traditions that surround Christmas, and how each family has there own way to celebrate.

But Christmas isn't a time of just gift giving, and honestly I am a little over how much it is now about "How much did you get?" "How much did you spend?" I can tell you know I don't really enjoy it when headlines focus on "Christmas shopping season off to muted start". 57 percent of parents reported that they were going to take on debt over the holidays in order to buy gifts for their kids. Im sorry, but is that 'cheerful' to you? The idea of debt up to an average of $500 just to buy expensive gifts? If allowing yourself to go that far into debt over one day doesn't that sounds financially shaky to you, please consider that 55 percent of adults surveyed in September had not yet saved any money for the holiday shopping season. Christmas in my family has never been about flashy presents, and I am honestly glad about this. I have heard so many statistics of how much is spent on the average person each Christmas, its crazy! Do we really rely on objects to give joy? Is the merchendise we can get and give what really makes Christmas "Merry"?