It seems the advertising and hype machine has succeeded. It is Christmas year-round. No, it is not a wonderful family time, but the hype to spend is pretty much year-round.
Let’s wander through our Calendar Year of spending, shall we?
New Years
This ends up being an extension of Black Friday/Christmas spending, but New Year’s sales go on for a good long while.
St. Valentine’s Day
Also known as Love Day, Valentine’s Day is an orgy of overspending in the name of keeping your loved one happy. The easiest way to show love is by spending lots of money, we all know that.
Easter
Hasn’t been completely conscripted as an orgy of spending yet, but things can change quickly. Easter is always a good time for change, or starting new things, but isn’t associated with over-spending. It is associated with new clothes though.
Mother’s Day
You can’t love your mother unless you spend a lot of money on gifts for her, right? The guilt pulled out to sell things for this is disgusting, but it does seem to work quite well.
May 2-4 Weekend
In the US it is usually around Memorial Day, and this holiday is when you need to spend enormous amounts of money on Cottages and outdoor projects. Also a big excuse for buying booze, and also buying Bar B Q’s, too!
Father’s Day
You know what your Dad wants for Father’s Day? Not all the the crap the media tell you. He wants to know you are happy, safe and doing OK, that is about it, so don’t bankrupt yourself for this reason.
Canada Day (or the 4th of July)
Ain’t it great? The Fathers of Confederation were surely thinking it would be a great time to buy a new car, or possibly an RV, when Canada was formed. Seriously, that is a selling point for that weekend.
Back to School
Yes, that starts pretty much in June and runs the entire summer. The kids haven’t even finished Grade N, when you should start buying stuff for Grade N+1 (or maybe Grade N again). Remember it is a great time to think about RESPs, because your kids will need that money sooner thank you think!
Labour Day
Back to school and the last long weekend of getting drunk at the Cottage or while on vacation, so let’s splurge!
Thanksgiving
C’mon, it’s almost Christmas, for Pete’s sake, but you need to splurge for this one. Get the 50 Kg turkey and enough food to feed the Minnesota Vikings, because, that is what you do to say Thank You!
Halloween
Now it is getting crowded. Halloween really starts around Labour Day, but Thanksgiving kind of gets in the way as well, but Halloween is another huge money pit. You are an awful person if you don't have $2000 worth of inflatable crap on your front lawn. Halloween is ripped down at 1:00 AM on November 1st, in preparation for the big day!
Singles Day
Seriously folks, this is the biggest orgy of spending worldwide, and it is completely made up. I got as much email about this, as I did about Black Friday. It is a little off putting given in overlaps with Remembrance Day here in Canada.
Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Giving Tuesday/Black Friday Week
American Thanksgiving, is the trigger for huge spending. It is the start of the Christmas season, and another excuse to buy stuff you really don't need or even want! Black Friday is the reason for the season.
Christmas
Hence my thesis is that it is year-round Christmas. Is there any week I don't receive a flyer with a plausible excuse for bankrupting myself? I doubt it.
Christmas Wishes from the Past
I seem to do this a lot, so here are my Christmas wishes from years gone by:
- Joyeux noël 2023 Enjoy your Family, Friends and Festivities. If you are working today, thank you. If you are alone, it will get better.
- Christmas 2022 was after a rough year for many folks including me. Inflation, COVID, and dealing with losing family members was a bit much really.
- Merry Christmas 2021 was another COVID crisis time. Omicron hit and Christmas became much more closed up. Maybe the last one of these, but we thought that last year.
- Merry Christmas 2020 ! Do you see the pussy cat in the tree? An odd year with a Pandemic and all. Make sure you pop those Christmas Crackers.
- Christmas All Year Round ? Yes, it does feel like that these days doesn't it? The 12 Days of Christmas Debt ? What the heck ? That isn't Christmasy at all!
- Merry Christmas 2017 ! That was a year of fun videos that I found to help celebrate the holiday. Love that old CFCF fill.
- Merry Christmas, Highspeed Internet a right, Inflation at 1.2 and #MoneyTalk 2016 ! Sheesh, I couldn't even be bothered to send a message that year, how Grinchy.
- Merry Christmas 2014 ! A lovely quote from the King James bible for that year. Seem to have done nothing for 2015. This year I even had a Christmas Eve post.
- Happy Christmas 2013 ! I loved the photos of every years Christmas Tree, very festive. Another Christmas Eve post too.
- Merry Christmas 2012 ! You see the hideous curtains we had in the den back then. That year we had the $150 Christmas challenge too.
- Merry Christmas 2011 ! The tree moved back to the front room and I used Google Translate to create a festive message. Think I was on French training that year. Also At Christmas Why Not Just Give Cash ?
- Merry Christmas 2010 has some very deep philosophical commentary in it. Must have been hitting the Christmas cheer early. Christmas Eve that year must have been a Friday.
- Merry Christmas 2009 and all you got was an NFB short? Not that bad really. There was also Christmas Eve thoughts too.
- Merry Christmas 2008 ! That was the year of the infamous Financial Advent Calendar too.
- A few last Yuletide Thoughts was what I had in 2007.
- Merry Christmas 2006 ! A quieter year I suppose.
- Whatever little money you have, make sure you spend it was my first year writing here. Quite gruff and grinchy.
- Advent, it begins again, is when the Christmas season begins
