Spreading the cheaper holiday cheer

Hokey Pokey Elmo—$24.99. Bratz Formal Funk Super Stylin Runway Disco—$109.99. Barbie Cook With Me Kitchen—$129.99. Cutting back on holiday spending—priceless, and less pricey.

According to the 2001 American Retail Express Index, American households spend an average of $2,564 on holiday preparations, $1,042 of which is spent on presents. While this frenzy of holiday spending is traditional and meaningful for many Blazers, others have decided to celebrate the holiday through non-commercial methods.

The Center for a New American Dream (CNAD) is a Takoma Park-based organization devoted to changing the consumption patterns of Americans. "We're bombarded with commercial messages telling us that to have a meaningful holiday, we need to be nonstop shoppers," says Betsy Taylor, president of CNAD.

The ads appear to be working, as many Blazers spoil their friends and family with pricey presents. Junior Samia Said says she spent about $1,400 last year on presents for the Muslim holiday Eid. "I got all my friends something," says Said. "It ranged from $50 to $100 per person."

Said spent even more on her family. She purchased $450 worth of imported perfume for her mom and splurged on a $400 Tiffany's bracelet and necklace set for her sister.

Some Blazers leave the job of spoiling loved ones with gifts to their parents. "A cell phone, a punching bag, clothes, shoes and riding boots," lists freshman Maggie Sullivan, recalling the presents she received last year from her parents. "Oh yeah, and a Kate Spade [purse]."

There are many hidden costs to excessive holiday spending, says Taylor. "Everyone wants to come out of the holidays refreshed, rested and reconnected to people they care about," she says. "[But instead] we're exhausted, stressed out and financially overextended."

According to the American Bankers Association, credit-card users need an average of four months to pay off their holiday bills.

Between wrapping paper and wasted leftovers, the holiday season also puts a strain on the environment. In the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, Americans produce five million tons of excess trash, CNAD reports.

Blazers who open their wallets and purses wide during the holidays say that spending money on presents is not a negative experience for them. Junior Chauna Lawson, who spent $350 last year on presents, believes that giving back to people you care about is important. "If it makes them happy, then it makes me happy," she says.

According to psychotherapist Carol Heil, other factors, such as competition, guilt and advertisements, also contribute to excessive spending during the holidays. "Often if parents feel they haven't given their kids enough in terms of time and attention, they'll just spend," explains Heil. "It's an attempt to buy love."

Blazers on a tight budget have discovered other ways to show their love this holiday season. Junior Natalie Ruhl uses her artistic talents to make jewelry and paintings as presents for family and friends.

Junior Lena Moreno made mix CDs and collages for her friends and family last year. "I think homemade gifts are more meaningful because you put a lot of thought and time into them," she says. "You'll make people so much happier."

Taylor also suggests giving gifts of time such as a free back massage or a fishing trip for family members.

As another alternative to a present-centered holiday, some Blazers choose to do instead of buy. Sophomore Katrina Comi-siak, along with some of her neighbors, started a holiday Christmas Club three years ago. The club meets to bake cookies, watch holiday movies, sit on Santa's lap, go caroling and perform the holiday play A Christmas Carol.

Taylor says that the holidays don't have to be anti-consumerism but rather pro-fun. "It's not about never going to a mall," she says. "It's about expanding the definition of the holidays and focusing on how to have more fun."

Junior Anna Murphy, another member of the Christmas Club, agrees. "Objects don't make memories, activities do," she says, "And the holidays are all about memories."