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Frugal for some, a bit too lavish for many others

By Zhang Yuwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-23 11:09

NEW YORK - Small business owner Douglas Longenecker and his family in Wyomissing, a city near Philadelphia, had a good plan. They started Christmas shopping in July to avoid the overuse of credit cards during Christmas.

"We got some gifts (in the summer) we think might be good for families, extended families, and friends and hold onto them till Christmas," said Longenecker, father of two daughters, aged 6 and 4.

With this strategy, he can space out payments for the credit cards. "We pay off the credit cards every month."

While the Longenecker family still tries to get gifts for everyone in the family and friends, a family in San Francisco is cutting its Christmas spending to less than $1,000 from last year's $2,500.

"It (the budget) was $5,000 two years ago and I spent $2,500 on a single item then," said stay-at-home mom Cady Gonzalez, a mother of three, aged 6, 4 and 2.

The most expensive gift item on her list this year is an iPad for her own family. "I will probably hold off after Christmas and see if there will be some good deals then," she said.

"If it were several years ago when the economy wasn't like this, I wouldn't wait."

Although the US economy seems to be recovering little by little, not much difference has been seen in cities such as San Francisco where Gonzalez lives. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the state carries a 9.7 percent unemployment rate.

"The job market is still not doing well here," said Gonzalez.

"We have cut back Christmas spending for the past few years with the slow economy, and we no longer give adults (in the family) gifts, just the kids."

The US economy has made the Longenecker family reconsider their Christmas consumption. Their lifestyle now is to "try to save here and there".

"We would love to replace the laptop and flat screen TV, but we won't buy things we want but don't need," Longenecker said.

Things such as clothes, accessories, and board and electronic games are atop his list as gift ideas.

"My girls will definitely have a Wii as their Christmas present," he said. The Nintendo Wii, retailing for less than $200, will be the most expensive item for the family's Christmas list.

This idea is shared by Gonzalez. "The kids love games and they can always share to play," she said.

While the slow economic recovery has been an education that makes many families rethink their consumption, Chinese living in the US are celebrating the holidays not with presents but good trip deals.

Sandy Liu, a software developer in Michigan, got her whole family, including a 6-year-old daughter, a weeklong Disney trip in Florida. The $5,000 budget, she said, is worth it.

"It is more meaningful to spend Christmas this way than getting gifts for them," said Liu who immigrated to the US eight years ago.

"My daughter is thrilled about the Disney trip. I think I will adopt this new holiday plan from now on."

In San Jose, California, the Duan family, another Chinese immigrant family, doesn't have a tradition of buying Christmas presents.

Yuan Yunzhi, a mother of two adult sons, said that over Christmas, the family of four will do a road trip to Reno, Nevada, for three days on a $1,000 budget.

"Last year we went to Las Vegas and it was fun," she said.