Before the holidays:
1. Make a list of Christmas goals and priorities, and put financial estimates
beside each point (many won’t cost anything).
2. Flesh out your budget for the holiday. Include cards, decorations, gifts,
food, entertaining, and travel expenses.
3. Keep your budget with your gift list to keep your spending priorities in
sight and in mind.
4. If you don’t have enough cash to meet your budget, either slash your
budget to match your resources, or take on some debt. If you must do
the latter, plan how you’ll pay it off.
5. Be aware that credit companies often raise credit limits at this time of
year to encourage buying. Don’t use your card to its maximum limit! You
could end up with a whopping bill in January.
6. If you are also scaling back on your children’s gifts keep the rituals and
celebrations the same.
7. Scale on your spending, but put extra effort of you own by buying a
number of inexpensive items and wrapping them individually.
Creative gift giving and holiday expense
solutions
8. Keep to a tight gift budget by being creative — and that doesn’t mean
making all your gifts. For example, you can take your parents for coffee
or dinner. It is an inexpensive yet priceless gift. Time together is the
greatest gift of all, especially to our parents and grandparents.
9. Someone I know gave out gift certificates she made herself for meals or
evenings at her own home. Certificates can be for movies and munchies,
or coffee and homemade desserts.
10. Are any of the gifts on your list ‘duty gifts’? Send a great card instead.
11. Instead of splurging on Christmas décor, buy lengths of wide red and
green ribbon at a craft store and tie bows on everything.