Money Saving Monday - Christmas Budget

Christmas is time for giving gifts, but don’t get into debt by giving. There are a lot of ways to start saving for Christmas by using a budget. One thing I like to do is to have a budget for each person and keep a total on how much I spend. This way I know I am being fair to each person.

If it is difficult for you to keep a budget for each person, you can make individual envelopes and put the dollar amount you want to spend in each envelope and only spend that amount on that person. Keep your receipts and gift receipts in the envelope of that person after you have spent the money. When it comes time for Christmas you can take out all the gift receipts and had it to them, in case they need to make an exchange. When the money is gone there are no more gifts to buy. It helps you get to that stopping point. This is hard when you are shopping for someone who is easy to shop for.

Also try shopping all year round for people on your list. I have quite a few people to shop for and I said I was going to do this in 2011, but once again I did not. Next year in 2012 I am. I now have a better understanding of sales cycles work, and how to stretch my dollar to the maximum. Everyone will be crossed off by November next year. I will keep you guys updated on how this goes.

Next I try to make gifts for those who I don’t have a budget for such as teachers, friends or someone else. These can be made for very little money and they always appreciate these gifts. I much rather do that then, buy something they are not going to use or need. I am planning on making peppermint cocoa as gifts this year. I got a great deal on cocoa at Tom Thumb last week. And this just sounds wonderful on a cold night.

Right now it is very cold here in Texas. We almost had snow today, but it started to warm up right before the snow line got to us. Some people got nearly two inches. That is a lot for us here in the south. It has been raining for three days now and I am a little tired of the rain. And to top it off we are all sick. I can’t talk right now because I have lost my voice. My husband posted on my Facebook page, “Finally some peace and quiet around here.” I just gave him a sneer.

Remember to have a budget and stick to it. I don't have all the answers, I just try to share some ideas that work for me. Find a system or method that works the best for you and stick with it. Now go and shop, shop, shop.