Christmas waits for no one. Recession or no recession, people are looking for ways to come up with money for gifts for friends and family in addition to the bills that are a part of everyday life.
A survey conducted by America’s Research Group (ARG) and UBS found more people will be shopping on “Black Friday” in hopes of finding more bargains. One-third of American families will not be shopping for as many people as before.
“Our annual Christmas shopping survey reveals that American consumers are under so much more financial pressure this year that even children will feel the pinch,” ARG CEO and founder C. Britt Beemer said in a press release regarding the company’s findings.
Nick, a 20-year-old customer service rep, plans to spend the same amount of money as last year.
“It will be more than two years ago,” Nick said of the money he will be spending. “It will be less gifts but more quality.”
Nick prepares for the holiday season by taking on extra shifts where he works at Christian Book Distributors in Peabody. His brother does the same thing, putting in what Colon calls, “crazy amounts of overtime.
“It’s helped,” Nick said. “It’s given me a chance to go out and buy things for the family.”
Another adjustment Nick is making is spending a Christmas with a serious relationship. Nick and his girlfriend, Ryane, will buy gifts for each other but will try to keep the spending to a minimum. The story was a little different last year.
“Last Christmas, we were dating for a couple of weeks,” Nick explained. “I said, ‘No gifts.’ She said, ‘No way.’”
Nick went out and bought Ryane a gift despite the agreement.
Ryan, a 24-year-old retail clerk, doesn’t have to worry about shopping for that special someone. Ryan is single.
“I look at the bright side,” Ryan said of his single status. “It saves me a couple hundred dollars.”
Ryan started his Christmas shopping in the middle of November. He, like other shoppers, will be attending to his holiday duties with less money than last year.
Working retail gives Ryan the opportunity to see the Holidays from both sides of the counter. Freeman works about 40 hours per week at a local Apple Store.
“Business is good,” Freeman says of the land of iPhones and their apps. “The store is consistently busy. The products like iPod and iPhone, they’re high on the wish list.”
Peoples’ wants for the Apple Store’s offerings have not been slowed any by the economic downturn.
“It’s not a store that is necessarily affected by the [recession],” Freeman said.
A spokesperson from Apple’s corporate office in California could not comment on Apple’s sales, citing company policy that prohibits entertaining such questions.
There are others who are making holiday plans. Nick tells of one friend who is buying their family a 42” LCD TV.
Nick and his family are making Christmas lists for each other. The wish lists will not have as much as years past. Colon still enjoys the tradition.
“Who knows what we want on our lists?” Nick wondered. “We’re very childish in that way. I don’t care.”
Nick and his family do their best when it comes to keeping the spending to a minimum.
“Obviously, there’s an advisory type of thing,” Nick said. “My family definitely says, ‘take it easy,’ but,” he adds with a grin, “We say, ‘Yeah. We took care of you this year.’”
Keri, an elementary school teacher, normally buys gifts for all of her friends. This year, however, she and her friends have organized a Secret Santa. The group will exchange gifts ranging from $5 to $20.
“We did it online,” Keri said. “We put up wish lists.”
The majority of Keri’s Christmas money will go towards one big gift for her family. She has foregone putting Christmas lights on the house this year so she can have more money for gift-giving.
“Outside, it’s like, ‘Whatever,’” Keri said. “I’ll just put a wreath on the door.”
Ryan estimates he spent $700-$800 last Christmas. He has a plan in place this year to make sure that figure doesn’t get eclipsed in 2009.
“I keep a budget in mind. I already broke it down,” Ryan said. “I’m more organized with what I’m going to buy. The organization is going to be a little better this year.”
Some of that organizing has already been done for Ryan, who saw his credit limits lowered on his credit cards as a result of companies trying to reign in the revolving debt.
Suzanne is a 22-year-old waitress. She traditionally starts her Christmas shopping two weeks before December 25th. She plans on spending the same amount as last year.
“I’m not worried about the Holidays,” Suzanne said. “I am the Queen of Bargain Hunting.”
Suzanne shops for her immediate family, grandparents, two roommates, and a boyfriend. She goes to stores like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s where she can get things that are marked down.
“It’s great,” she said.
Another part of the organizing is deciding whether to shop from the convenience of your home or braving the madness at the local shopping mall. Nick will divide his time between shopping online and going out to the urban wild that is the mall at Christmastime. He finds pros and cons to both methods.
“It’s more comfortable to shop at home,” Nick explained. “There’s definitely a shipping process. That’s bad. They have next day shipping but if you don’t see it in three days you, get worried.”
On the other hand, going to the mall can help Nick get in the holiday spirit.
“You see kids sitting on Santa’s lap. It warms your heart.”
Nick is trying to remember things like that so he doesn’t get stressed over the holidays.
“I’ve had it on the brain,” he admits. “It’s been there. You can’t worry about something like Christmas. You’re supposed to enjoy it.”
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