With Christmas music blaring in almost every shop, we are constantly reminded of all the gifts that we have yet to give. While Christmas ranks the top most favorited holiday of American people, it is not the best holiday for their bank account.

It is almost as if gift-giving is an expectation rather than a simple act of caring. This subconscious expectation of a gift has resulted in a lack of appreciation for gifts that actually have thought and love put into them. People should not expect to receive gifts on holidays, nor should people buy presents just because they feel like they need to.

Gift-giving should be a caring act toward someone you love. It should be an action sprouting from love rather than societal standards.

Days are created just for people to spend money. Black Friday, when everyone floods to stores all around the country, is a day that people take off work so they can go spend their money on presents for their loved ones during the Christmas holiday.

Even Cyber Monday was created, the modern and easier version of Black Friday. People can simply stay at home and order everything they want from the technology right in front of them.

Throughout the whole month of December, gifts are given to people left and right. Most people love receiving gifts and love giving them. Ironically, a lot of the people giving gifts are also the ones who worry constantly about affording to give.

For college students, gift giving can tend to be more of a chore than it should be. Looking for extra money to purchase the perfect gift is a serious struggle. As a college student, time is limited just like money is.

Without the money required to purchase a gift, one must need time to create a homemade gift, but a lot of Americans have no time to create a worthwhile and meaningful gift.

On an average holiday, for an average American, $700 are spent on gifts. Although, this average is spread throughout time. For Christmas in 2017, $906 was spent on Christmas gifts as of November 2017. For younger people, this tends to be less, while families and older citizens spend more on average. In college, $700 is about the equivalent of a month of rent for an apartment.

Giving gifts is an amazing thing, and there is nothing wrong with loving to give and buying things for others. Although, gift giving for the holiday season should not be an expectation. Christmas gifts would mean so much more if they were given to loved ones simply to give, rather than because the expectation in this culture is to give gifts to those you love.