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Email this6:44 am
December 20, 2016
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As a relatively recent member of this great Forum, I looked for the appropriate Forum section to wish everyone celebrating the Holidays, the very best for the Holiday Season, along with good health and prosperity (consistent with the Forum's mission) in 2018.
I have enjoyed and benefited from the information and good advice on the Forum and the site as a whole and thank Peter for making it available.
In line with my search for the appropriate Forum section to post Holiday Greetings, has it ever been considered to form an "Off Topic" section where non financial discussions might occur?
Stephen
7:18 am
May 15, 2007
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Thanks, and same to you! An "Off Topic" section hasn't come up yet, but it just depends on whether there's enough demand for it.
7:29 am
May 24, 2016
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Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings, Happy New Year, to all. (What a thoughtful man you are Stephen). 
12:36 pm
December 12, 2009
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Peter said
Thanks, and same to you! An "Off Topic" section hasn't come up yet, but it just depends on whether there's enough demand for it.
Yeah, I generally try to put any "off topic" posts in either "site suggestions" or "general financial discussion(s)," as applicable.
Cheers,
Doug
7:19 pm
November 19, 2014
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Happy Relevant Holiday Greetings to all.
Also a +1 thank you to Peter for this site. It has been a tremendous help to me over the years and I recommend it to others on the internet whenever the topic comes up.
Cheers.
7:42 pm
October 21, 2013
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Thanks, Stephen. Same to you! May we all prosper!
There is also the "Stories" section which covers some things that don'qt uite fit elsewhere.
Personally, I wouldn't want the forum to get too far off the track, as it would become cluttered.
8:22 pm
December 4, 2016
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Bah! Humbug!
Christmas is a hoax created by the retail stores to spur unnecessary spending!
Basically, this is Rob Stock's view point. He is a Personal finance guy (I'm pretty sure) in New Zealand and I've recently started to read his articles. He's a grumpy fellow. At least about Christmas.
From the article "Our Christmas present tradition is irrational ":
"In many ways, Christmas is an irrational reason to spend money, especially for the majority non-Christian portion of the population"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/99739413/our-christmas-present-tradition-is-irrational
Also, this article from the year before "Christmas comes but once a year... and it's in mid-October":
"Christmas is a form of mental and financial torture."
Here's another Gem of an article "Three weddings and a financial funeral ":
"My heart sank when he talked about a man who borrowed because all three of his daughters were getting married in the same year."
"It was poverty economics at work, and opportunism. We didn't have any money, and it would never have occurred to us to borrow.
The whole day cost next to nothing. It was lovely."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/86352574/Rob-Stock-Three-weddings-and-a-financial-funeral
We need more view points. Rather than just cheery ones.
Keep sober with Christmas Stephen. Sober. Same for everyone else to 🙂
3:59 am
October 21, 2013
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There's not much point in faulting Christmas for the excesses that have grown up like weeds around it.
Theologically speaking (dare I say it about a religious holiday?), Christmas celebrates a gift freely given. When people receive such gifts, it is right and, I hope, natural, for them to say thank you. Stephen's greeting is very much in this spirit, and welcome.
Other faiths abound, and that is not a problem, but this particular holiday (=holy day) season exists because of Christmas, because of a powerful story, with lots of "trimmings", of a gift freely given. You don't have to agree with the underlying theology (a much longer story!) to get into the spirit of it, but, still, it might change your life if you did. Them's the risks.
End of sermon. (My shortest!)
5:36 am
September 11, 2013
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Even since pre-Christmas times many peoples in the northern latitudes have celebrated (and often to excess in whatever form excess took in their "tribe") the solstice, the return of the son around Dec 21 of every year. And in gratitude and relief that warmth and new life will return it makes sense that part of the revelry includes offerings of gifts (needed or not!), a reaction tailor-made for an earning-spending consumer society/world where a huge proportion of the 99.9% obviously have money to spend. Enjoy, it's back to work soon enough!
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