Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's the holiday season, and I celebrate Christmas in so much as that I get gifts for family and friends and wish them a merry Christmas and so on.

However, today I decided to buy myself a new laptop. My old one died back in June...it was about a year and a half old- the power jack got worn down, the fans were dying, the speakers were broken, the hard drive was making sketchy noises, and a key was missing. I've been yearning for a laptop ever since...

I've been working at my new job for about a month and a half now and I managed to save up a fair amount of cash. So today I decided to just go for it and buy myself the new laptop because there was a great deal on one.

But now this kind of means I will have substantially less to spend on Christmas presents for others. sweatdrop

Does this make me a bad person???

Once upon the time the computer was a luxury good- but unfortunately it's become a force to be reckoned with in work, recreation, socializing, and managing one's affairs. A computer is sort of the wheel of the modern day.

That said a computer, if yours was broken (or at least the portable incarnation of said device) is as much a tool as it is a toy. You shouldn't feel guilty for replacing something that was broken.

Sablara made a good point. I have to admit I'm shocked by the wide spectrum of gift ranges these days. I think expensive gifts really should be based upon something that really, really is the right thing to get someone. It's not a matter of the amount, but choosing something that reflects you understand the other person.

I usually make an informal budget, and I find that helps. Make due with what you can. Granted I'm not sure what is the norm in your family to spend- but I'm sure they'll understand.

- Side note: On that caveat I've only been with my current boyfriend a month and a half, he's not big on Christmas. I'm going to get him a gift card for a book store- he mentioned a love of shopping for books. I think the main gift will be writing him a letter. But I am worried, he asked me my shoe size the other day eek He mentioned something about his mother and how women from the Philippines have an obsession with footwear (very humorous given a certain historical figure).

no, you are not bad.
a computer is something nearly everyone needs today.
it doesn´t count how much you spend for the gifts the meaning is important. last year i hadn´t much money,too. so i knitted some scarfs for my friends in their favourite color. noone was argry with me that i didn´t spend much money they were impressed that i made them with my own hands.
so if you think about the gifts and give your friends something creative, noone will yell aboutmoney.

Noppers. Makes you a SMART person.. imagine how you'd feel if you got everyone fabulous presents and you had nothing left for a computer? Say it with me... SCREWED! xd

If he gets you anti-gravity boots DO NOT LET HIM GO.

Not at all. In this day and age, a computer is more of a need than a want. As others have already said, it shouldn't matter how much you spend on people. I am making nearly all of the gifts I am giving people this year, mostly from recycled materials. I don't feel bad about this. I feel that I am making some very nice things. They are more personal, more heartfelt, and I always have trouble deciding what to buy people anyway.

Personally, I look forward more to sitting around with my family and eating cookies and drinking than opening presents.

rofl @ headhunter's comment.


Well, the thing is that I already have a desktop PC...I've just been wanting a laptop for about 4 months since mine died since I'm traveling home and other random places and miss the ability to lurk in coffee shops and write stuff. sweatdrop I guess I wouldn't feel so bad if I didn't have my desktop...

Luckily I get paid on Friday so I can brave the crowds and do some last minute shopping!

Here, here.
Everything's pretty much already been said, but you must be an incredibly selfless, sweet person if you're even having the slightest bit of a moral dilemma about this. And in which case, you deserve the new laptop even more 3nodding