Poor Santa

"Poor Santa"

Alright, listen up girls and boys,
This year Christmas will not be all about toys.
You see, Santa just got the news,
Everybody's singing the blues.
Gas price are up, employment is down
Home foreclosures all over town.
They just approved billions in a bailout,
Everyone's wondering what they'll have to shell out.
Poor Santa lost his house, his day job and his retirement plan
Now it's his job to make the kids understand.
So this Christmas, I'm sorry to say,
You won't have everything your way.
But don't fret, we have a new plan,
Poor Santa will do what he can.
There may be fewer gifts but lots of love,
There is more to Christmas to think of.
Santa may be broke, but it's okay,
Because true Christmas spirit is here to stay.

- Anonymous

When you need money for Christmas

I know what it's like to have a couple kids, a lot of bills and no money during Christmas season. I remember one year that I took a job cleaning offices at night during the month of November just so I can have just a few dollars to buy Christmas gifts for my kids. It was a hard job, and it was even harder spending that time away from my kids in the evenings. I only did it a few weeks, that was all I could take.

I began to realize that although I wanted to provide wrapped gifts under a tree for my kids on Christmas morning, what they really needed was for me to be there with them, as much as I could. Christmas is only one day after all. And I was sacrificing our live's for the sake of that one day. I quit, and it felt good. We made do that year, and you know what? It was just fine, the kids were just fine, and they even had a few gifts. I couldn't give them much, but other people came through to help us out.

But if you do have some extra time and the family life would not suffer, perhaps you could take a seasonal job to pick up some extra cash. Just be careful not to put this before the quality time with family though. Not for the sake of buying Christmas gifts. If you have to do it to have a roof over your head or food to eat, that's a different story, but don't do it to buy gifts. Your time together is the best gift you can give.

We have to realize there may be times when we simply can't do it all ourselves and we can use a little help. I imagine there will be a lot of people in that boat this year. And there will be people around who are willing and able to help out.

At my place of employment, as a group we contribute a lot of money especially during Christmas to sponsor needy families, and we love it. It is a passion that we have, and we can do so much more because it is a group effort, and we plan and raise funds for it all year long. There are many such places, and if you are in need you could probably find something in your area.

Some other places to check out are churches. Many of them have outreach programs to provide food and even gifts to those in need. Many local government agencies also have programs for families who qualify.

Do an internet search on "financial help for Christmas" to see what's out there in your area.

As with all good things, there will be those out there abusing it. I have witnessed people who have really learned the ropes so well, that they are on lists to receive gifts from many different directions. And they end up getting way more than their share. This is wrong and those who do this should realize that this is no longer need but greed, and that they are possibly causing someone else who really does need the help to miss out. So if you need the help, by all means take it, but if you don't, please be mindful that you may be depriving someone else of the help they really do need in a very rough time.

What’s so good about Christmas during a bad economy

In a strange way, the economical slump may not be so bad for us this Christmas. So many of us have gotten way too materialistic, and too much emphasis has been placed on the gifts. This thinking leads so many people into debt, having to pay all year for last year's Christmas.

The good thing about the bad economy is that it touches everybody. Everybody is affected by the high gas prices, decreases in real estate values, high interest rates, just to name a few. Because so many people are hurting, many of us will be in the market for a Christmas on a serious budget. Therefore, this year, maybe it will be en vogue again to be frugal, to be sensible about what we buy and how much we spend. Maybe we will welcome thoughtful cards and homemade gifts from the heart, instead of expensive gadgets, since that will relieve the pressure of buying expensive gifts to reciprocate. Maybe we will give and receive more practical gifts, like gas cards or household items, instead of whatcha-may-call-its that we forget we gave and forget we got. Maybe this year we won't spoil our kids so much with stuff they don't need anyway.

Let's see if any good comes out of this economical situation this holiday season. We can find the good if we try hard enough.