To spend or not to spend?

Greg Burghardt

College students find themselves faced with all kinds of gift-giving dilemmas as the holiday season approaches.

Some say they try to stick to a budget, while others say they employ the “buy now, think later” strategy.

Lansing sophomore Katie Bien said she spends the same amount of money on presents each year. Bien worked last winter break and spent some of that money to buy her family gifts.

“I think I spent a lot of the money I made, probably about a couple hundred dollars.”

Bien said she didn’t make a budget.

“My plan was to go to the mall and spend,” she said.

Beaverton freshman Brent Mishler said shopping for the holidays will become more difficult for him now that he’s in college.

“I’m going to spend less, for sure,” Mishler said. “But everyone in college is usually broke. It’s a fact of life.”

Cheboygan sophomore Derrick Green said he limits his Christmas list to a small group.

“I usually spend about $100,” Green said. “With my friends, there are too many of us to all get each other presents. I usually buy gifts for my girlfriend, best friend and immediate family members.”

Redford Twp. sophomore Jack Schuett said he’s already saved money.

“I am definitely going to spend less money on presents because I don’t have a serious girlfriend this year,” Schuett said. “I am saving myself some money right there, and I am also cutting back on my gifts because I am saving up to buy a new car.”

Tracy Schmitz said her family is scaling back on their presents this holiday season.

“We’re going to Florida, and we’re doing our vacation instead of big presents,” said Schmitz, New Baltimore senior.

But Schmitz said she still will fight the crowds at the mall.

“My friends and I usually spend about $20 on each other, and I’ll go shopping for them.”

Mishler said he’ll reserve a lot of his Christmas budget to buy a nice present for his girlfriend.

“I like to buy nicer gifts for her,” he said. “You take more thought and spend more money on some people you shop for.”

Green said he sets limits with his significant other.

“My girlfriend and I will set a certain dollar amount we’ll spend, and I try to stick to that,” he said. “I try to go into a store thinking that I’m not going to spend more than our limit, but I’ve gone over in the past.”

Bark River sophomore Leah Folcik said she spends under $100 on Christmas presents.  

“I buy for a few of my friends and my brother, but not my parents,” she said. “I feel bad, but I don’t know what to get them. They already have everything, and they don’t want me to get them presents anyway.”

Folcik said she makes up a budget, and plans to keep doing this until she gets a full-time job.

Bien said she’ll return to her part-time job at the mall this winter break to buy more Christmas presents.

“Still, the point is not really how much you spend,” she said. “It really is the thought that counts.”