Wasteful Holiday Spending!
The holiday is on us and it’s that time of year again; the season when people do a lot of wasteful spending. It's the season for gift-giving, and the urge to splurge on things that toss money down the drain. With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, many are thinking about the special people they want to give a gift.
The survey revealed that people are not excited by gift-giving, they are only honoring holiday traditions. It also confirms that people want to unwrap gifts that will make them “a little more” happier and will not bring about too much hardship.
Furthermore, the recipient feels people need to think harder about what they are buying because many are tired of receiving gifts that they would not buy for themselves. Besides, a lot of people yield to one of the most wasteful traditional of all-time, they buy Christmas cards to share the joys of the holiday season and mail them nationwide.
Buying holiday card(s) can be pricey, and the money paid to send them is wasteful. While people send holiday cards in an attempt to bring good cheer, sending holiday cards is reckless because all the people do is filling up the trash can after they receive them.
Spending hasn’t changed much over the past few years and neither has effective advertising. Through promotion, you'll see a noticeable increase in sales of the ads that are placed to persuade shoppers to buy things they don’t need. Moreover, the three main traditional holidays people allow themselves to waste a lot of money on are Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Many will get caught up buying giant bags of candy to pass out to the neighborhood for Halloween, but whether you're passing out candy or entertaining a Halloween party, it still wasteful spending.
Some homeowners will decorate the front yard with scary decorations to honor Halloween. The children will dress up in their favorite costume and go from door to door to trick-or-treat for candy. But when it comes down to it, people spend money on holiday things they don't need so it is wasteful spending.
This holiday season, whether you're entertaining a small party for only the family or hosting a large group that includes a lot of friends, you must plan the entire event, including food, wine, and decoration. The average woman will buy the biggest turkey to cook a large meal for Thanksgiving when its all wasteful spending. All and all, the holiday that holds the candle for the most lavish indulgence of wasteful spending through purchasing a lot of gifts and sending out holiday cards is Christmas.
He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself. – Swedish Proverb
For many honoring the holiday is a meaningful part of a yearly tradition, and to a lot of people, it symbolizes getting into debt. The holiday season can bring about stress and misery if you do not know how to minimize the pressure that comes with it.
There is a quote that says, "He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself." I concur with this quote, buying what you don't need for the holiday isn't wise. Also, people should give away gifts people are happy to open; and need if not, it ends up being something of a waste.
Halloween is a yearly tradition that is celebrated on October 31st. A lot of children spend Halloween dressing up and trick-or-treating for candy. You can drive by different homes and see all kinds of scary Halloween displays in many yards. Decorations like a carve Jack-o-lantern, the most common theme among zombies, the apocalypse, ghost, black cats, witches, spiders, skulls, and skeletons.
The National Retail Federation surveyed Halloween on more than 7,400 people. The survey questions whether or not people plan to celebrate Halloween by handing out candy. If they will dress in costume and whether or not they will decorate the home.
Of the 100% survey, it reveals that 68% plan to celebrate and 32% do not. Also, it shares that 69% will hand out candy. 47% of the people will dress in costume. And 49% of homeowners will celebrate the holiday by decorating the home.
Some might consider Halloween's celebration a very affordable holiday, especially since It doesn't cost as much as Thanksgiving or Christmas. Bear in mind, wasting whether big or small is unwise.
Halloween is considered the ultimate kids' holiday and since the adult is too old to trick-or-treat it could appear as if all the fun is limited. But who says Halloween is just for the kids, its fun for all ages. It comes with the mysterious and spooky things the adult can do to have some fun with decorations, food, drinks and hosting a Halloween party.
The top five costumes for children and adults to wear on Halloween are a witch, zombie, superheroes, vampires, and princess attire. According to LendEDU, the average American will spend (waste) around $162.29 on candy, decoration, and costume for Halloween.
According to an online survey, an estimated cost of money to be wasted on Halloween in 2019
The three most popular candy for Halloween: skittles, M&M, and snickers
A popular Halloween item: Pier 1 Imports, a black cat LED Light-Up figure for $14.98.
A portion of the spending on candy: Candy 34% ($55.18)
Cost of home decoration: 29% ($47.06)
What waste on Costumes: 37% ($60.05)
Total spending: $162.29 per person; $8.8 billion total nationwide
Costume and Candy are to Halloween what buying gifts are to Christmas. Dressing up in costume and collecting candy make the scary festivities what it is today and the children are just as excited as they are receiving presents on Christmas.
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
November 28th is Thanksgiving Day in the United State for American family traditions. On this day many families and friends come together to share a big dinner. Some Americans travel long distances to be with family to take the time to think about what they are thankful for as they eat a turkey dinner with stuffing, mash potatoes, and gravy.
Thanksgiving is a day where the lady of the house puts on her apron and prepare a meal to host a Thanksgiving dinner. As she put together everything, she tries to consider everything that she needs to spend money on, from food to the seating arrangement, place settings to festive decorations to the beverages.
The Thanksgiving menu normally consists of the turkey with different side dishes. The side dishes will arrange from the stuffing, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, candied yams, mash potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, to salad. Desert consists of Pecan, Pumpkin or Apple pie. For drinks, I recommend setting up a separate area. Placing water, wine, soda with ice on the table and let everyone serve themselves.
The Thanksgiving decoration normally simple which consists of the minimum: a table cloth with napkin and ring holder, chair cover and a beautiful centerpiece. According to the National Response Framework (NRF), the average shopper spends just under a thousand dollars on food, decoration, gifts, and travel for thanksgiving.
Collaborating on the steps taken to spent money on Thanksgiving dinner. According to an online survey, the percentage of people that planned the menu before shopping and use coupons when purchasing food. Below is the percentage of responses and how Americans will make purchases for Thanksgiving.
- Planning the Menu Ahead of Time: 64%
- Use coupon: 49%
- Preparing a Potluck: 36%
- Buying Early and Freezing the Food: 25%
- Budget for Thanksgiving: 30%
- Purchase Generic Items: 26%
- Didn't participate in Thanksgiving celebration:10%
Black Friday 2019 is set to launch on Friday, November 29th, 2019. Although the sale will kick off early at Walmart on October 25th with items like iPads and 4K TVs. According to surveyconduct by Slickdeal, they poll 2,000 Americans on Black Friday deals and the poll revealed that 80 % of Americans will be shopping during Black Friday sale.
Americans will go to incredible lengths for a good deal, 53% will be shopping to purchase clothes. While 47% will be shopping to buy a laptop or computer. People are ready to spend this holiday season with 37 % searching for a deal on TVs, and 33 percent of Americans say they’ll be shopping for the great Black Friday deals. The poll shows that the average Black Friday shopper plans on spending over $500 this year.
Christmas is the time of year when families get together to decorate the tree and place the presents under it. The homeowners decorate their homes with Christmas accessories and others drive through the neighborhoods to look at the many houses that feature many traditional decorations. Although to have a good holiday season, you must ensure that you get the rest you need.
During the Holiday season, some people sit at home and watch 25 days to Christmas on TV. While others walk a crowdy mall and holiday shop searching for great deals. It means waiting in long lines and having two hands full of bags that come with tired arms.
Based on the National Retail Federation NRF’s annual consumer spending survey, for Christmas Americans are prepared to spend an average of $1,007.24 this year. Most of the money will be spent on gifts and food, some of the money will go decorations, adding up to $215 per person. The shopping will fall into three categories:
- Gifts for family, and friends: $638
- Cost for food and decoration: $215
- Purchases for the: $155
Do you agree with this statement, "The holiday season of giving, receiving, feasting, and decorating comes with wasteful spending?
Holiday Waste
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2019 Pam Morris
