When the peace, joy, and togetherness of the holidays are squelched by a rush to "shop till you drop," something has gone wrong.  For those in this bind, I found some motivating statistics and valuable suggestions on the internet, and added a couple ideas of my own.  I hope this helps!
         Credit card debt piles up each December during our annual shopping spree, and the proportion of Christmas spending that is paid with plastic has steadily increased.  Debt counselors are very busy in January and February when the bills arrive.  By 1996, the average American household had credit card debt of $4800, more than twice the amount of 1991.  There were 376 million Visa and MasterCards floating around, up 80% from '91.  These figures are undoubtedly higher now.
         Debt can enslave us, limiting future options and our ability to give to others.  How can we participate in the spirit of giving now, without mortgaging the future?  I found some helpful ideas from members of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, an association of counselors who help people organize their finances and escape from debt.  They say we should give ourselves a break if we've been straining to do everything "right" for Christmas.  Consider the aspects of Christmas that are truly important, that bring peace and joy.  Write them down, then review your holiday plans and eliminate time consuming or expensive things that don't express these central values.  Make a list of people you plan to buy for and consider who you can acknowledge or give to in other ways.  For each person on the list, set a limit on how much you'll spend.  Use cash--not credit cards--to buy holiday gifts.  This makes the cost much more real.  If you must use plastic, use just one card and plan to pay off all the holiday charges within three months.  It can take over 20 years to retire $1900 of credit card debt with the minimum monthly payments.
         Christmas is a time for reaffirming and strengthening ties with family and loved ones; for many it has deep spiritual significance.  We may need to dust off some old traditions, or create new traditions to replace excessive gift-giving.  Some might like dinner by candlelight during the holidays.  Others may enjoy reading out loud from spiritual or inspirational works.  We can listen to Christmas music and cook, bake, or work together making original holiday cards and decorations.  We can develop and rehearse creative family plays or presentations, to be "performed" for friends or relatives.  We can bundle up for the cold and take special walks in nature together.  Almost anything we do, especially if we do it together with loved ones, can become a deeply meaningful tradition.  Each year, my dad's three sisters sing a song called "Bless This House" at our family gathering; it always sends shivers up my spine.  I remember this much more than the presents I may have received over the years.
         I grew up absorbing television ads, and as a child I thought I wanted as much
"stuff" as possible, but I can barely remember now what these things were.  Besides receiving Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches at the family gathering in 1966, only one set of Christmas presents really stands out:  in about 1970 (I was 13), there on Christmas morning were 4 shiny new Schwinn Varsity 10-Speeds in the living room, all different colors, one each for me, my brother, my mom, and my dad.  I think there were no other presents that year because this was a BIG DEAL.  I remember because it was so dramatic, and because in subsequent years we all rode these bikes a lot, many times together, and it was a real bond to start out with them as a family.  I rode mine for thousands of miles; it was my main transportation for years.  The thing was utterly indestructible.  I was crushed when it was stolen in 1984.
         So for physical gifts, quality items of lasting value can indeed touch someone.
You can also touch someone with an offer to help them cook or clean house.  You can give a "voucher" for a week's worth of dishwashing, a wax job on the car, an evening of babysitting, breakfast in bed, an hour's massage, help with preparing tax returns, or any other unique service you can provide.  You can give an evening out to experience some of our fantastic local live music or theater.  You can give someone a gift membership in an organization they like.  Instead of buying anything, you can write a letter to a person listing 10 things you love, admire, appreciate, or respect about them.  Your gift of time and thoughtfulness may be remembered long beyond a hundred knick-knacks collecting dust in their closet.
         Some of these gifts may take time, but time can be freed from cancelled shopping chores and from the extra hours we'd have to work to pay for the shopping.  We can remind ourselves that often what people most need is not more "stuff," but rather more forgiveness, love, communication, and fun.
         These are just a few ideas; many more could be added.  The important thing is to clarify for ourselves what are the most important parts of Christmas, and to spend our time and energy in harmony with those values.  Talking with our friends and loved ones and developing creative solutions together is the best way to find the peace and joy we seek and deserve.
 

        The Simple Living Network has a lot of great material, including information on simplifying the holidays.  I think the site is set-up in a cumbersome, hard-to-navigate way, but it's worth looking around.  They have extensive material on the holidays:  click community services>links>miscellaneous>A Simple Holiday For You.
        Here is A Simple Christmas Message, a short article with themes similar to the above.
        Here's an Australian group focusing on Christmas debt in their country.  They have an article called "From Jingle Bells to Juggling Bills."
        Saving Yourself from Christmas Debt is another good short article.
        Credit Card Customers Crunched:  yet another article on this topic.
        Credit Card Math is free software, downloadable here.  The author says:  "it goes behind the scenes and reveals the true hidden costs associated with credit card debt. It will give you the knowledge you need to get yourself out of debt fast, save money and beat credit card issuers at their own game."  I haven't used this software and can't vouch for it, but it sounds interesting.
        Here's something on the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.  When I did a search for this, I came up with many listings; things like CCCS of greater Atlanta, CCCS of the Seattle area, CCCS of Lubbock, Texas, etc.  It looked like many of these sites had lots of great information.  I did not find a large national overarching site for this organization, though one may exist.