The £100 Christmas
Gifts of time are even better: a voucher for a monthly massage, a voucher for a trip to the zoo, a walk in the woods, a game of Scrabble on demand, baby-sitting, house-painting, book-reading - what you're really offering is your time. The point is not to stop giving; the point is to give things that matter: time, attention, memories and playfulness.
People always complain that Christmas starts too soon - that the tinsel is up in the shops right after Halloween and the carols gurgle over the loudspeakers in every aisle. I think a bigger problem is that Christmas doesn't last long enough. One reason we all find Christmas so intense is the sudden sense of anticlimax that can seize you once it's all over.
It doesn't need to be that way - you don't have to focus on the presents as the main focus of the whole season. The point is to emerge from Christmas relaxed, contented and happy. To emerge closer to your family than you were when the season began. To emerge with some real sense that joy has come into your world.
Why not discuss your Christmas budget on the Money Matters message board. Take a look at some of the live discussions taking place on the board right now:
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Created: 07/10/2004 Updated: 13/12/2005
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