For a while there I was coming round to the Sallies, they started writing reports that we would cover on this show, like reports on the "State of the Nation."

And what made them slightly more reputable, if not respectable is they were in part being honest with their assessment.

Too often lobby groups, charity agencies, and NGOs take a stand, they stick with their stand, and the facts, if they happen to stack up a bit against that stand, are never recognised or acknowledged.

The Sallies started in the past few years, despite a National Government, giving our economy seven out of 10 in terms of positivity. Yes, there were still people struggling as there are in any given western democracy like ours, but there was a lot to like, a lot of people were doing just fine, and that needed to be acknowledged.

But then came this week's Christmas survey. For a start, it's yet another one of those bogus surveys that requires you to answer the most nonsensical of questions. Do you agree, yes or no, that Christmas is affordable?

You can't load a question up a lot more than that. It's like asking,“is everything getting more expensive?”.The reality overall is that it isn't, but everyone will say it is. So your survey result would be along the lines of "80 percent of New Zealanders are finding life more expensive".

The fact mathematically that they're not, is lost in the noise of a headline that is literally invented.

And so it is the case with Christmas, "one in five can't afford Christmas." What does that even mean? What does Christmas cost?

It costs what you want it to, somewhere between nothing and the GDP of a small island nation. It costs what your circumstances allow, it costs what you spend, it costs what you thought you would spend versus what you actually spent.

It's open to a chasm of interpretation, it's open to mood and mindset, but what it isn't open to, is any sort of reality. But that doesn't stop the Sallies, and sadly it doesn't stop the media, who these days rarely, if ever, stop to actually ask the sort of questions I have just been asking.

And the allies and their ilk, as well-intentioned as they may be, slip sadly back into their age-old habit of banging on about hard days and tough nights. But base it on a fallacy they have invented through their own suspect means of research.

Yes, there are those who find the season tough. But 20 percent not being able to afford it is not a stat, it's not a fact, it's not an indication of anything real.

It’s a heart string pulling sop, dressed up to get your attention by people who do themselves more damage than good by acting dishonestly.