We always skip the typical retail Christmas, but always endeavor to seek peace and calm and quiet, shared with family. Like it used to be a lifetime ago.

It really is the best time of year.

´´although many of these consumers are on a better financial footing´´ Yes, democrats, union workers, government employees, how ironic.

Good People All this Christmas Time,
Consider well and bear in mind,
What Our Good God For us has done
in sending His Beloved Son.

With Mary Holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day.
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born.

[The Wexford Carol, 12th century, John Rutter arrangement, "John Rutter Christmas Album"]

This is what the "skippers" are incapable of understanding.

Payday loans are a complete ripoff. It´s better to keep Christmas simple rather than go into debt to those sheisters.

Very misleading. Some sites like Drudge are just posting the headline, which implies that this refers to 45% of Americans. It´s actually 45% of the poll´s respondents, who are all users of services for the financially desperate, like prepaid debit cards and payday loans. I´m amazed that 100% of them wouldn´t rather skip Christmas.

That said, we have gotten sick of the commercialism and scaled back Christmas considerably in recent years, starting from before the recession. This year, my wife and I will be spending Christmas morning on a plane to Panama for a four-day vacation where it´s warm.

If that´s all they think Christmas it ... let them skip it!

#1, that really was beautiful.

Even though we are not Christian, we do the Christmas thing every year out of tradition, and to hopefully create the wonderful memories in the children/grandchildren we got.
I like the lights and the music and the cookies. Not quite as thrilled with the "stuff", most of which is not wanted, not used, and would only be noticed if it was absent.
I am reminded of the definition of insanity that has been mentioned many times...

So sad, that so many people still equate Christmas with spending.

I was like that once. Then a tightening of the financial belt forced a change of ways at Christmas, and I can say unequivocally that our Christmases have been much better now that they are scaled down financially.

Now, the simple things of the season are the most enjoyable and rewarding. A cup of eggnog and a version of "A Christmas Carol" on the TV does more for us now than any big or expensive present.

Simplicity is when Christmas is truly appreciated and enjoyed the most.

The only money I´ll be spending on Christmas is dinner for my wife and me. All this retail gift buying rigamarole can go to blazes.

They still want the day off.

Several years ago the kids decided they didn´t want to make the effort to come to our house for Christmas, only wanted us to go there...much easier...for them. Of course we were expected to bring the presents to them also.

We said "Oh well, we will miss you"

Every Christmas after has been just the two of us. Church to see the day in, then peace and quiet.

The difference now is we are the ones who can´t be bothered. Let the kids come a week before or after.

It was only a matter of time. Christmas is not Christmas any more. People are not going to get all excited and spend money to celebrate "Winter Holiday" or some other silly politically correct occasion. Christmas without Christmas carols, Jesus, the Nativity and all the traditional trappings is a nonentity. It is done for. It may be just as well. Perhaps our Puritan forefathers had it right all along when they refused to have anything to do with it. The sad thing is what children today will miss - but then, children today are missing so much, and being exposed to so much else that is positively toxic and harmful to their souls and their characters, that saying goodbye to Christmas is the least of their troubles.

Faux Christmas will linger on and decline for a generation, at most two. Then it will simply exist no longer. Too bad for merchants and manufacturers, but everybody has long since had everything they need and most of what they want, so the whole gift giving rigamarole is a relic already.

Santa Claus, he dead. The horror? Not quite. But still sad. Too bad.

Just another liberal, atheist drumbeat - an incessent, unrelenting, repetitive, unending drumbeat against anything that ties us to our roots.

Presents are for the little ones only at Christmas time any more. Who needs junk and spending money? I just like the joy and the music and the people and the food. And I love the spirituality. Commercialism doesn´t have to ruin the holiday. But only you can control how it affects you.

Starting with the kids, Christmas has usually been small gifts and perhaps one family gift. (one year it was a used dishwasher-the kids were thrilled since they had to do the dishes after dinner.)

We always donated a percentage of the Christmas budget to the Salvation Army.

Now I have so much fun. The grandkids get small presents or perhaps a gift certificate. (There are plenty of other relatives to give them stuff)

The fun is our giving tree at church. I love picking out names and filling bags and bags with new clothes, coats, underwear and one or two toys.

We also have older folks names on the tree as well and those are fun too.

It´s great.

Another poll?!! So, -as if any poll can be believed anymore, this indicates 45% don´t celebrate the Reason for the season? Most American´s love Christmas and look forward to it all year. Christians rejoice Christ´s birth and others enjoy all the festivities & happiness shared with family & friends.

Only Scrooges & statists don´t like the peace & good will of Christmas. But then, they also don´t like ANY of the other traditional American holidays either, but that´s their choice. Bless their hearts, ´cnbc.´

I´ll be too busy coordinating our church Angel Tree to worry about the Grinches who are cynics all year.

My out of state grandkids will get a generous box of cookies and money to put towards new musical instruments. The kids here will get something off the wish list.

I will ignore the family grinch.

The title is misleading.

The article never brings up unemployment and the stress of the holidays. Where is it written you have to give gifts you can´t afford ?

I have a problem with Toys for Tots and angel trees. Those kids need clothing and food all year, not overpriced electronics many cannot afford for themselves or pricey sneakers.

For some Christmas is everyday.

Can anyone answer this? At what age, if ever, does a kid begin fixing Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? My kids asked me why we stopped decorating a tree after the price skyrocketed and I would answer that there is no law against a kid using his McDonald´s paycheck to buy one. Kids are adults now and still do not buy a tree or cook dinner.

We have been adopting a needy family -my daughter finds them through her church.

The little kids in the family get presents from Santa and my mother gets something. But none of the other adults need anything other than to stay out of debt, stay out of the stores as much as possible, and to enjoy a peaceful and happy family time.

One of the presents I´ve given older kids is an elephant adoption from here: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering_christmas.asp

The kids can get an email every month (assuming they have an address) describing how things are at the nursery. I like what this teaches them. Besides, how many kids can say they got an elephant for Christmas!

The Calf and his wife do the tree thing since they have little ones-I stopped putting up a tree years ago. I make a big dinner because it´s what Mr. Cow likes. As a family we go to Midnight Mass, my favorite part of the season. I like simple so that´s how I keep it.
Mrs. Cow

I am stunned by the overwhelming responses on this site and many others to the abhorence of the "Christmas" retailing season.

If people feel pressured to buy or receive gifts that are unwanted or unused, then you do not have a close family and/or friends.

Gifts, regardless of the event or season, should always be personal and heart-felt to that individual. If not, then you do not feel for that person and then why bother with a mindless gift. Seems kind of weird to me.

And, for those that want to skip Christmas...go right ahead...no one is stopping you and as such you should not require other people who choose not to skip Christmas to skip it.

I am getting a strong feeling that a lot of these people who are all anti-Christmas are probably the same type of people who vandalize nativity scenes on private property during Christmas. Sounds like the same of intolerance.

Why don´t the 45% who pay no federal income taxes and leech off the rest of us just use their EBT cards? Do states prohibit buying toys with them? If so, it´s about the only thing they prohibit then.