How big is your pocket this Christmas?

The preparations for the Yuletide celebrations, especially for children, break every ethnic and social barrier.

What, however, makes the Yuletide quite spectacular year in and year out, is its nearness to the end of the year. It is natural for humans to feel that at the end of an exercise, event or just anything which consumes time and energy, the participants should take a rest, and if possible, mark it. The end of every year evokes such feelings as well. People always experience a feeling of victory which they also feel calls for celebration. This period, every year, everyone is engrossed in activities to end the old year and usher in the new.

For Folashade Okon, the festive period does not care about the state of your pocket, lean or fat. If people believe you are better advantaged than they are you are their ‘Father Christmas.’ I believe this has always been the order of the day because I remember a story my great grandmother told me of how they had to compulsorily provide rice for their own children and other children in the village at that time, because that’s the order of the day.

Everybody expects everyone else to be their ‘Father Christmas’ to the point that everyone you have had dealings with throughout the year – be they your driver, hairdresser, mechanic, barber, young boys in your neighbourhood… the list could go on and on, would expect you as they say in local parlance to ‘do Christmas’ for them. I guess the erroneous belief stems from the fact that at Christmas time companies and organisations give staff Christmas or yearly rewards in the form of bonuses, extra pay, gift vouchers, and thirteenth-month salary and so on. So there’s the belief that people have a lot of money to throw around. The reality is that this is only real for a privileged few. A lot of people who are working only get their salary and nothing more with the myriad expenses and expectations of everyone for Christmas. Someone once said the greatest reason armed robbery is on the rise at this time of the year is because everybody must celebrate Christmas in style!

From my point of view, the state of your pocket should not determine how you spend Christmas but the state of your heart. It is a time of reflection on the whole year and I have discovered that a positive attitude is what attracts blessings to you not the state of your pocket. So, be grateful for another year while anticipating many good things in the coming year, says Folashade Okon.

However, Emilia Ugbe, a mother of three and also a lecturer, says money they say answers all things. It can also easily “disappear,” but not so easily got. People are therefore encouraged to be prudent.

Prudence, however, sometimes bows to advents and hype! This happens most especially during festive seasons.

However, the crown of all is the Christmas season. During this period, prices are arbitrarily hiked and so called “sales” from different shops are actually disposal of “leftover” goods at still ridiculous prices!

Now, come to think of it, is this really the spirit of Christmas? Christmas is celebrated because God gave His son to the world as a result of His love for us. This love is sacrificial because God gave His only son to the world. Why then do we turn this season to an exploitative one? If anything, this should be a season for free will giving! At Christmas there should be price slash and not hike.

Adebola Smith says this is a merry season, whether the pocket is lean or not there must be Christmas chicken. It is like a family tradition that must be observed. Preparation is charged here in the city of Ibadan. Traffic is heavy, schools are on vacation, market and shopping malls are filled with people doing shopping – colourful hampers, etc. The economic situation is not affecting nor is it dampening people’s spirit this season. Compared with the past ones, it gets even better. People are spending and celebrating but I observed it is been done within their pocket size.

Well, as the celebration nears, it is advisable that consumers prioritise their needs and make the best purchase decisions within their limited resources to avoid cash crunch in January, when money is always scarce to attend to family needs.