Best Christmas Gifts, Tips, Ideas, and More

Christmas is a time to share in the spirit of giving, but for some of us it can also be a time of financial stress. If you’re someone who has a large family or many friends it can be cost prohibitive to exchange gifts with everyone. Or maybe you feel obligated to purchase expensive gifts for others even when your bank balance is low. Putting this type of purchase on a credit card is never a good idea. So, what can you do?

1. Set up a Christmas shopping budget before you buy your first gift. Be realistic. How much money do you actually have available to spend?

2. Make a list of everyone you plan to buy Christmas presents for this year. Be sure to remember any business associates, co-workers, or service providers such as your hairdresser or children’s teachers. If you like to participate in annual charity drives, be sure to keep that in mind as well. And it never hurts to have a few extra little gifts on hand for unexpected occasions.

3. Next, you need to take the amount of money that you have available for Christmas shopping and divide it up among the gifts you need to buy. You will want to set up a separate budget for your immediate family members. Once you’ve done this, take the left over amount and divide it up among the other people on your list. For example, you might divide up your Christmas shopping budget this way: 50% on your close family members, 25% on your business associates, 15% on acquaintances, and the remaining 10% on charity giving.

4. Remember that a personally made gift or a card is just as welcome if that’s all your budget allows. After all, Christmas is the season of giving and it’s the thought behind the gift that matters the most. If you run out of money, you may need to eliminate some people from your gift list this year.

Once you have your Christmas shopping budget planned, start now to plan for next Christmas. Buying presents throughout the year allows you to budget more easily and get most of your shopping done before Christmas arrives. Plus you can take advantage of other sales throughout the year.

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