I missed Black Friday, and didn’t get myself together in time to pick up any bargains on Cyber Monday. So now, with just six sleeps to Christmas Day, I’m frantically trying to start my seasonal shopping.
Not that I’m in any doubt about what my children want.
Thanks to annoying cookies embedded into my laptop, I’m reminded every time I turn the thing on, that the teenager wants a pricey electric scooter, new phone, expensive trainers – pretty much what most kids his age want these days.
And in case I forget, the endless WhatsApp messages showing different types and prices, come through to my phone on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, the youngest, aged four, seems to be writing increasingly frantic letters to Santa, panicking about how he’ll receive them, and asking for the umpteenth time, “Mum, how do I spell Nintendo Switch?”
And there’s no escape from it on social media platforms either. The pressure to spend, spend, spend in order to have the perfect Christmas seems to increase every day. The Bank of England has calculated UK households will fork out an extra £800 this month on gifts, food and drink.
And it’s this pressure that is fuelling family financial woes.
Debt charity StepChange said this week social media is pressuring families to spend beyond their means because of the fear of missing out, aka FOMO. It launched a campaign to warn about the dangers of overspending at Christmas which will leave people unhappier in the long run.
According to their research, a third of people will use credit cards to pay for Christmas spending, which takes around seven months to pay off, while almost a fifth felt like they had to prove they were having a good time.
What’s even more annoying about last-minute Christmas shopping is knowing that from Boxing Day, everything you’ve bought will be slashed to half price.
With that in mind, I’m seriously considering taking a leaf out of my friend’s book and buying my boys a goat instead. At £30, they’re relatively cheap, and they provide milk and free fertiliser for families in need in poor rural communities across the world.
It might be a bit tame for Instagram, but if it saves me the hassle of braving the shops on Christmas Eve and does good at the same time, it may just be worth it.
