Well, that's less than 99%.

Best laid plans... let's see what happens in reality.

Yeah but those are probably the bottom third of the 99 percenters. The only thing that matters is what the top 1% decides to spend.

I'm guessing they will have ostentatiously lavish parties and gifts just to show how nice life can be when you get all boot-strappy and don't rely on government handouts to maintain your lifestyle. Lead by example, just like they always have. Sorry, we. Like we always have.

Who the hell budgets christmas gifts, or spends enough on them that it merits budgeting in the first place? They're little tokens with a personal touch to let friends and family know you're thinking of them, you don't have to get everyone a gold-plated rocket car.

Um . . . . good?

If you're going in to debt buying gifts for people your priorities are wrong.

Xmas is for kids. Long ago the adults in our family decided there was no reason to buy things for each other. The stuff we really wanted was too expensive to expect as a gift, and those "token" gifts just created clutter. We do enough things for each other during the year, so Xmas isn't anything special. So we just buy for each others kids, which is much easier, cheaper, and faster.

Jim_Callahan: Who the hell budgets christmas gifts, or spends enough on them that it merits budgeting in the first place? They're little tokens with a personal touch to let friends and family know you're thinking of them, you don't have to get everyone a gold-plated rocket car.

People who have children. Kids can be expensive and don't usually respond well to tokens with a personal touch.

I'm a grownup, and therefore anything I really "want" I get when I want it, while living in my means. I enjoy the giving and receiving of thoughtful gifts, but adults swapping presents just to do it is silly. Spoil the kids. Hell, if you wanna give me a gift, take the kid for a weekend.

I started my xmas shopping early this summer when I planted my garden. I planted 7 or 8 types of peppers and come Thanksgiving I'll cook up a mess of jars of pepper jam. That'll take care of most of my list.