Ingrid, High School Teacher, Divorced
If you want to quit the whole spending up big at Christmas deal and stop being involved in the pointless activities of the silly season, then get up and stop doing it now. The thing that gets me is how much people worry about what others think of them. It doesn't really matter what others think. It won't improve your life if you started to live the way others think you should.
This is living up to the standards of others, and not your own. If someone has a low opinion of you then that is their problem, and if they tell you so then they are damned rude and should keep their opinions to themselves. Besides which I have found that other people are too absorbed with their own narrow lives to be concentrating too hard on thinking about me and what I'm up to. You life is your own, so live it your way.
Trying to keep up with what you think someone is thinking about you is way too hard, and a waste of time and energy. As Dale Carnegie said, instead of worrying what people say about you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.
Ignore those who are rude and comment on the choices you have made for your own life. It is none of their business and you don't have to explain yourself to anyone.