The Cost of “Holiday Cheer” Is Too High—And Millennials Are Feeling It

The holidays are here — and every year, it becomes more obvious how much this season is built around money. Especially now as a parent myself!

It’s almost laughable how the government shutdown ended just in time for companies to get their holiday dollars. Like clockwork.

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Thanksgiving rolls in and suddenly it’s peak season for HomeGoods, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx, Target (we’re still side-eyeing them, but people are still going), all the craft stores, and every grocery chain known to humankind. Everyone is decorating, cooking, performing gratitude, and buying more than they planned.

Then Christmas hits, and the real marketing frenzy begins. BJ’s sends their book. Target sends their book. Amazon sends their book. Back in the day, Toys “R” Us would send their toy book, and that thing was the highlight of childhood. You’d circle ten things, write your letter to Santa, and (in my case) get zero out of ten. Absolutely nothing I asked for.

With nothing!

That’s when Santa became a myth that never exists, somewhere around age 10. I saw that man at the mall, told him exactly what I wanted, sat on his lap and everything (also now thinking about it, why were we allowed on this random mans lap) and when Christmas morning came? Not ONE item from that list. So clearly, somebody was lying.

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Now I’m on the other side of this — a parent trying to recreate the holiday magic I remember… and realizing how hard that actually is.

Not because I don’t want to.

Not because the love isn’t there.

But because adulthood, and especially motherhood hits differently.

The holidays don’t feel light and joyful right now. They feel stressed.

Bills.

Making sure the rent gets paid.

Keeping the lights on.

Paying the WiFi bill so I can work from home.

Paying the phone bill so I can get through the 50 million authentication steps just to log into my email at work.

Somewhere between childhood wonder and adult responsibility, the season just… shifted.

There’s a disconnect between companies and their employees, between the system and the people trying to survive inside it.

And when I really think about it, I’m talking specifically about my generation of millennials, especially those of us born in the early 90s. We are making double, sometimes triple, what our parents made when we were kids… and we STILL can’t afford what they afforded.

We’re not all able to buy houses.

We’re not traveling the way they did.

We’re not decorating homes we own or hosting big dinners or waking up debt-free in January.

And it’s not because we’re irresponsible.

It’s because times have changed!

Inflation, poor governance, the cost of living, wages not matching reality — all of that has created a generation that works constantly but still struggles.

So here I am, wanting to give my daughter the same holiday magic I had… while navigating a world that feels heavier, more expensive, and less forgiving.

I’m doing what I can with what I have.

I’m choosing joy in small doses.

I’m giving her moments, even if I can’t give her extravagance.

And maybe that’s enough.

Maybe the magic now isn’t about big gifts or perfect holidays.

Maybe it’s about creating warmth in the middle of a system that wasn’t built for us to rest, celebrate, or breathe.

And honestly?

That might be the most meaningful magic of all.