Neal: I'm not a grinch but I'm resisting the holiday pressure to spend

I’m committing to my New Year’s resolution to do less, but better, a little early this year, and I’m starting with Secret Santa gift exchanges.

I’m not a grinch, and I don’t want to steal anyone’s holiday joy. But I am protecting myself (and others) from the pressure to hunt for, and spend money on, gifts that no one needs and are likely to be forgotten by the time every loose pine needle is finally swept up in the spring.

I’m also not interested in adding extra money to a holiday economy that keeps asking families for more while offering little in return.

This season, Canadians say they’ll spend an average of $1,646 on gifts, holiday food, decorations and entertainment — about $122 more than last year, according to investment management company JLL.

Much of that money will flow into companies that, at the same time, are limiting their investments in the people who deliver and buy their products and services.

Amazon, the unofficial sponsor of Secret Santa and the undisputed champion of online retail, has trained us to believe that joy can be delivered the next day in a cardboard box with a smile. It sits at the top of most holiday gift shopping lists.

In January, Amazon announced it was closing all of its facilities in Quebec and laying off thousands of workers. Union representatives believe the closures were retaliation against workers’ efforts to unionize. Amazon, which now has no employees or operational facilities in Quebec, says the move was just a cost-saving measure.

If you plan to bring a teenager into your mobile service plan, know that Rogers tells a similar story.

A month after Amazon’s announcement, Rogers confirmed it had laid off an undisclosed but “small percentage” of customer service employees as it incorporated more AI and digital self-service tools. This follows significant layoffs in both 2023 and 2024. The cuts have made it possible for Rogers to reduce customer interactions with its chat team by 20 per cent.

Is it efficient? For Rogers — maybe. But for customers who spend hours on hold due to a “heavy call volume,” only to reach a representative who can’t help, or be disconnected and forced to start again, it seems more like off-loading inefficiency onto families.

And then there are the grocery chains.

In a year when families have been told to pay more for essentials, we’re also expected to operate the bar code scanners, manage the payment card reader, and bag our groceries, while those still in line awkwardly wait for their turn to fumble. The work has shifted to shoppers, even as grocers bring in record profits.

Québec solidaire says that since the COVID-19 pandemic, profit margins at major grocery chains have more than doubled — from about 1.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

The Canadian Food Sentiment Index Bi-Annual Insight Report, released in November, noted that 20 per cent of individuals now spend over $600 per month on groceries. Families, of course, spend more. One trip to Costco for my family of four can easily reach $400. And, like many families, we spread our shopping across multiple stores.

Unsurprisingly, the report also highlights that every generation — from Baby Boomers to Generation Z — named cost as their leading food concern, almost twice as important as nutrition.

When the price of butter and bacon inspires an in-store budget debate, the poinsettias and Christmas baskets don’t stand a chance. They sit untouched as I make my way to the checkout.

During a talk at this year’s Washington Post Live Global Women’s Summit, personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary offered reminders that felt almost radical in a season designed to keep people shopping out of tradition, guilt or obligation.

“Hate debt like it’s Satan himself,” she said. She urged the audience to resist consumer culture, stop accumulating things they don’t need and remember that our presence and the time we spend together is far more valuable than presents.

Arron Neal is a communications strategist, writer and mother of two exploring the intersection of culture, parenting and politics.

Related