Christmas: Scrooge or Spend?

I don't know about you but I thought the world economy was in the dunny, and we are all tightening our purse strings this festive season. Or, in a more positive spin, getting back to the good old fashioned notion of "it's the thought that counts" and just letting the tots play with wrapping paper and the older kids an outdoor cricket set. Or, if you are like some people I know, you could be well into the $000's with your chrissy spending. So far. Aside from the joy of giving, is it compensation for some form of neglectful parenting, fear of childhood deprivation, or some sort of bogan pride-cum-outdo the Jones'es mentality? If you don;t count the hoardes of food, we never spent alot on Christmas. We got bikes, rollerblades, a Playstation and all that at one point or another, but it was only ever one gift. Not a laptop, ipod, giant toy dog, swing set, trampoline and assorted cds/books/clothes, all at once. I mean, what the hell do you buy next year?! Charlotte has asked for a gingerbread man from Santa. And the other day Myer had a one-day only sale of 30% off Christmas trim, so she got her own sparkly bauble for the tree. So far her spend list is under $10. Although, she does want a bike too, which I can't wait to go shopping for. My partner will probably get a book and some shoes, I'd be happy with a day off and a Chanel purse (joke. sort of). A day off and lots of wine would do me nicely. Maybe it's an effect of getting old, or the result of the post-consumerism frenzy of this decade, but the thought of overspending just makes me a bit nauseous. And this is coming from a person who basically shops for a living. Mind you, I plan to hit the Boxing Day sales like a madwoman in heels, but you know, everything will be cheap. It's economical. A group of us are having Chrissy dinner later this month, and instead of $10 secret santa we're all giving $10 each to a business in a developing country through Kiva.org . $80 might buy you an annoying talking Elmo who has no point as he isn't programmed to a) shutup or b) do housework; but $80 to someone in the 3rd world makes such a huge difference. I recommend it - warm and fuzzy is where it's at. And I don't mean in a giant lifelike toy dog.