Is more really merrier?

I like Christmas, but it's a little bit ruined by advertising that keeps telling us to spend more.

This is one of the bluntest - it straight out says that the path to happiness is spending.

Of course, more accurate (but less grammatical) slogans would be:

the more the stressier
the more the costlier
the more the debtier
the more the exhaustinger (from shopping)
the more the wastier (of food and unwanted gifts)

But of course it's not the shops' job to tell the truth. Their job is selling.

Perhaps it's our job to realise that it's nonsense and to focus on what really makes Christmas merry.

If you'd like your Christmas to be more about love and giving than about shopping and credit cards, why not grab my free Christmas Resource. It's got 5 websites to help your Christmas have less stuff and more joy. Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Comments

Colour me happy

One of the great things about reducing possessions is thing called 'helper's high' . It's that fuzzy feeling you get from helping someone else out. I got one recently by helping an old man lift heavy groceries into his car boot when he was struggling. But this is not about that. I was about to put some watercolour paints online for anyone who wanted them. Then I remembered a local community group where people do art therapy. I gave the paints to a contact who passed them on to the group. The next day my contact called me to say how much they were appreciated. One of the participants wanted to do some watercolour painting, but couldn't afford the paints. When my contact walked in with free paints the participant was overjoyed to be able to do her art. As far as 'helper's highs' go, this was a slightly removed one - I never met the actual person I helped. But still it was a buzz.

Man Down

How is it possible for a book to be depressing, supportive and hopeful all at once? Man Down looks at the problems men have today and how it managed to get this way. What price 'success'? It seems so many of the problems come from the external pressure to be a 'success' - whatever that means. Over time this pressure becomes internal and drives us to make decisions to satisfy that pressure, but which are detrimental in so many other ways. It can be the pressure to take a 'successful' career, though it's one we don't want or aren't suited for. Or to take a promotion, because salary is apparently success - or at least it buys all the things that signal success to others. The promotion only means more pressure, less sleep, and poorer health. At the same time the extra responsibility takes away from our ability to exercise, take care of our health and form social connections. The lack of social connections means that retiring is one of the most dangerou...

How to waste a year's wages

A friend recently asked me why it is that so many people (on good incomes) are struggling to save. Often the big three money areas are housing, transport and food. In one sense these are necessary items. But what we spend on them is often way more than necessary. I crunched some numbers on how much extra my wife and I could spend on these things - if for some reason we wanted to burn our money. 1. Housing Our apartment is fairly nice, but also cost-effective. I've mentioned how choosing it saves us $1,800 per year , compared to a similar one we saw. The high end of 2-bedroom apartments in our suburb is $305 per week more than our apartment. Not $305 per week. $305 per week more than ours is. I cannot get over that. Sure it's new and modern-looking, but that's a lot of money. It's an extra $15,860 per year above what we pay. 2. Transport The Australian Automobile Association lists the costs of owning and running a car. It includes many often-overlooked c...

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