The jolly season is on the horizon, with merry spirits already in the air. Carols fill the silence, lights illuminate the pitch black night, and the fragrant scent of peppermint fills the nostrils of those walking into stores for their daily cup of joe. Indeed, the eagerly anticipated countdown to Christmas has begun, and with that, the rush to purchase presents has begun in earnest as well.
As students, there is an immense amount of pressure to create a list of which friends will receive what, but one has to keep in mind the costs. Everyone wants to treat their friends and those they love to something nice, but as part-time workers, finding the extra money to do so often proves difficult.
According to the US Department of Labor, students 17 and under are allowed to work up to 48 hours a week. But, according to KidsMoney, the average amount of time a high school student in NY works is 25 hours a week. With the minimum wage in Orange County, NY being $15.00, students are earning roughly $375.00 every week, or biweekly. But the allocation of that money is the reason that many students seem to struggle during the holiday season.
Frivolous spending is commonplace in every age group, but the term “shopaholic” is very befitting for high schoolers. The intrigue of a new game, a more aesthetic wardrobe, and even deals on DoorDash are so tempting, and many give in to mindless spending throughout the year. Thus, when the holidays come around, many find that they are unable to fulfill their Christmas shopping list.
The “many” includes a freshman at University of Delaware, Malachi Williams, who finds himself in a perpetual state of having too little too late: “Yeah, I spent a lot on things I don’t need…yep, I’m broke now. I regret it because I care about the people on my list and I wanna give them what they want, but I was very much irresponsible this year.”
The root of the issue can be attributed to negligent financial habits and a lack of budgetary constraints that is very commonplace amongst the high school age group. Spending indiscriminately is so easy in a world where people are continuously bombarded with cheap fad products and advertisements, making shopping not only look even more pleasurable, but become an unavoidable normalcy that leads to ultimately being broke.
Someone who has fallen prey to persistent social media marketing is a sophomore at NFA, Nicholas Morales, as he explained, “I feel bad now, because I don’t have much money. I spend my money pretty irresponsibly, on stuff in the TikTok shop. But nobody talks about it, I guess. Like, ending up broke and overspending.”
Consequently, poor financial decisions during the majority of the year lead to the inevitable struggle of cutting corners at Christmas. Cutting down the list, finding cheaper gifts, and figuring out how to get it all done before the actual big day are things many high schoolers are accustomed to. And as the aforementioned statistics show, it’s not due to selfishness, but simply lack of financial knowledge and the inundation of advertisements people are exposed to day in and day out.
That said, although corners are cut, many people do the best they can with what they have. If one finds themselves in this predicament, a good idea could be to make handmade gifts for those closest to them. Not only are they inexpensive to make, but there’s a greater sense of sentimentality when the gift is well thought out. Another idea could be as simple as baking a sweet treat to share amongst friends. Cookies, for example, are lovely this time of year, and hold a certain nostalgia in many people’s hearts. Although financially, many people find themselves in a rut, they don’t always have to be stuck.
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