Managing Holiday Spending

Many retailers offer steep discounts after Christmas to rid their shelves of excess inventory. When planning your holiday budget, you should try to set aside some money to take advantage of these sales to purchase items you truly need. An additional word of advice though, some of the best deals won’t be available until several days after the holiday, because many retailers have learned that people tend to spend gift cards they have received the first few days after Christmas.

Once Fall arrives and the online sites start to seriously compete for Holiday shopping dollars, look for free shipping codes online. Some sites to check are www. couponhut.com, monkeybargains.com and savester.com. Also, the day after Thanksgiving, Yahoo! Shopping lists free shipping and special-offer codes among its 250,000 merchants at shopping.yahoo.com.

Credit cards can cause debt problems any time of the year, but especially during the holidays. If you can't afford to pay cash for a gift, reconsider whether you should purchase it. The last thing a loved one would want is for you to go into debt just to buy them a gift.

If part of your Holiday tradition involves purchasing a cut Christmas tree, consider going artificial. A live cut tree can cost from $20 to over $100 depending on the size and what part of the country you live in. By investing in a fake tree, you can recoup your investment in just a couple of years (especially if you buy your artificial tree after Christmas!).

An inexpensive activity for the whole family during the Holidays is to create a Holiday book. Agree on a rough story line and then have each family member contribute a chapter or two. The results can be hilarious, it doesn't cost anything and you'll have a keepsake that you can share as a gift with grandparents and other relatives.

If you are visiting a family that you usually exchange gifts with this holiday season, consider one present the whole family can enjoy instead of a bunch of individual gifts. A board game, or croquet set is something the whole family can enjoy together, and is less expensive than several individual gifts.

Don't spend more money than you can afford during the Holidays assuming that your company is giving you a bonus or raise. If the expected windfall doesn't come through it could take years to pay off any credit card you accumulate over the Holidays.

Join a Christmas club with your bank or credit union. Your financial institution will automatically withdraw a set amount from your account into a separate account that you can't access until about a month or so before Christmas. If you are disciplined and use this account as your Christmas gift budget, it will help you avoid the Holiday Hangover that many people experience when their January credit card statements arrive.

If you have a bunch of loose change gathering dust somewhere in the house, consider cashing it in to get some extra holiday cash. Coinstar locations are waiving their 9 percent commission when you convert your loose change into gift cards from certain retailers they've partnered with such as Amazon.com or Starbucks. Check with coinstar.com for locations and participating retailers.

When shopping after Holiday sales, keep an eye out for generic print wrapping paper and ribbons and bows. If they are not Holiday themed, you can use them year round for birthdays or other gift-giving occasions.

Setting up a family blog can help keep everyone's long distance bills down over the holidays. A blog is an easy-to-use website, where you can quickly post thoughts, coordinate a calendar, post a sign up sheet for who's bringing what to the holiday gathering, etc. You can set up a free account at blogger.com. This web format can help save time and cut down on long distance phone bills if you have family out of town.

A good way to avoid wasting money on gifts that won't be appreciated is to have everyone in the family make a "wish list". That way it is easier to buy for each other and each family member is less likely to overspend because they have a good idea what the other's want or need.

You can limit the amount of wrapping paper you waste wrapping presents by getting a piece of string and pre-measuring the length or width of a present, then using it as a guide when you go to cut paper. You can keep your Holiday budget in check by being careful not to blow through too many rolls of wrapping paper.

Let your family know that you are on a tight budget this season. Don't worry about being seen as a scrooge - honesty is better than struggling to pay off your holiday debts. The best gift you can give your family is financial security. You might even agree with some people in advance that, in the name of saving money and reducing stress, you won't exchange gifts but will get together to do something you both enjoy -- such as spending an afternoon bike riding or going to a movie.

One great way to celebrate Christmas without spending too much is to load the family into the car and drive around to see the light displays. In addition to displays put on by die-hard amateurs, you'll also find many businesses, towns and attractions will put on very impressive displays.

A Stock certificate can be a reasonably priced present for a child relative and it might just get them interested in investing. A share of Mattel, the maker of Barbie and Elmo, can be purchased for less that $20. Ask a financial services firm to have the transfer agent for the stock you select send the actual stock certificate to you to present as the gift.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are great times to stock your freezer with turkey or ham. Many stores offer these meats for more than half off around the Holidays just to get people in the store. They are willing to practically give away the main course hoping that shoppers will pay full price for all the fixin's.

If you aren't visiting friends or relatives who you normally exchange gifts with until after the holidays, consider purchasing their gifts after the holidays. This is when retailers hold big post-holiday sales. You may not want to do this for smaller items, but this strategy can really pay off for big ticket items.

As a general rule you should try to start shopping early for the Holidays. That way you won't feel pressure to overspend or buy things on impulse just to check items off your holiday list. This also allows you time to comparison shop and watch for sales, which can mean a huge savings.

Try to avoid shopping at the mall during the Holidays. Not only are prices generally higher at the mall compared to discount stores, but the abundance of stores and displays are a recipe for overspending and budget disaster. Try to stick to the warehouse and discount stores for the bulk of your shopping and you can hopefully avoid over-spending.

If you are trying to keep your Holiday spending under control this season, propose the secret Santa method to your family. Everyone picks a family member's name out of a hat and then buys a present for that person. This is a neat idea because everyone gets a gift and only has to buy one gift. In fact, you can probably afford to buy a nicer gift for the person than you normally could, since you only have one gift to buy.

If you have out of town relatives that buy gifts for your kids or you buy gifts for kids out of town, consider sending cash to the parent and let them buy the gift. That way you can save on shipping and a trip to the post office or UPS store.

Instead of buying a tree skirt for your Christmas tree that you only break out once a year, buy or use a table cloth. You can wrap it around the base of the tree for the holidays, and then wash and re-use it as a tablecloth the rest of the year.

Instead of spending a lot of money on store bought garlands, consider a nice inexpensive alternative, and fun family project -popcorn strings. Thread up strings of popcorn the old fashioned way with a needle and thread. Decorate your indoor tree or out hang outside. You can liven up the strings by adding the occasional cranberry for color.

A roll of brown kraft paper or white butcher paper costs about a third of what wrapping paper costs and you can use it year-round by decorating it to fit the season. You can find it at your local craft store or try centralpack.com, which sells a 1,000-foot roll of white butcher paper for $34.50 and a 1,000-foot roll of kraft paper for $19.50. Get your kids involved and let them help decorate the paper with crayons or stamps.

Never start your Holiday shopping without a list and a maximum amount you can afford to spend for each person. This way, you make sure you know how much you can spend and you avoid making those out of your budget, impulse gift purchases.

When buying gifts that need to be sent out of town, consider how much it will weigh and the subsequent shipping cost. A box that weighs one pound, for example, costs $3.75 to ship from coast to coast with U.S. Postal Service ground. If it weighs 10 pounds, the price shoots up to $18.14, while a 20-pounder would cost $26.12.

While you are in the Holiday spirit don't forget to give to your favorite charities. The end of the year is a good time to clean out your closets and drawers and give much needed clothing donations to charitable organizations. Be sure to get a receipt, because you can get a nice tax deduction for your charitable giving. You can check for the allowable deduction amounts for charitable donations at irs.gov.

The holidays are an excellent time to earn some extra income. Retailers are always looking to hire part time workers, and often offer sign on bonuses and employee discounts on purchases. That way you not only make some extra money during the season, you'll also pay less for gifts purchased through your employer.

If most of the extended family with which you usually exchange individual gifts with agrees that money is tight, consider a Holiday gift swap instead. Put everyone's names in a hat and draw them to have each person buy a gift for the name that they draw. This way everyone gets a gift and you can concentrate on getting something particularly special for the person you picked from the hat.

If you want to get your Holiday decorations for less, buy them right after Christmas. You can pick up decorations, ornaments, wrapping paper, and even some of next year's gifts for 50-75% off.

If you need to ship packages out of town during the holidays, ask for paper bags instead of plastic at the grocery store checkout. Then instead of buying parcel shipping paper, just cut open the brown paper grocery bag, turn it inside out and trim to the size of your package. It's plenty strong, easy to label, and best of all, it's free.

For an inexpensive, old fashioned Holiday gift, create a mulled cider kit. Start with a 64 ounce bottle of apple juice or cider, which you can often find on sale at a grocery store. Wrap three cinnamon sticks and a tablespoon of whole cloves or allspice in some cheesecloth and tie the package to the bottle with a bow. Include a card with instructions to add the cheesecloth package to the juice and heat until bubbles begin to form. This will be a refreshing treat and you will be remembered warmly by the recipient on a cold winter's night.

Instead of buying gifts at the store, bake a batch of fudge and put a couple of squares in a mug that matches the recipients personality. Wrap in colorful plastic wrap, tie with a bow and you have a nice Holiday gift.

To keep within your holiday budget, opt for quantity over quality when shopping for stocking stuffers. You can pick up some inexpensive coloring books, toys, and candy at the dollar store that will thrill a child as much as anything you buy at a higher end department store.

Many towns have holiday celebrations that range from festive tree trimming parties to parades complete with Santa. These are often free so gather up the kids and even invite some friends or neighbors for a free night out to celebrate the holidays.

For anyone on your Holiday card list that has Internet access, consider a free e-card instead of a store bought card that you send through the post office. There are a number of sites that offer free e-cards for all occasions. You'll save on the cards and postage. One website for a variety of occasions is 123greetings.com. For something different, you can check out moma.org for free e-cards featuring works of art from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Check your benefits plan at work and see if your company has partnered with any local businesses to offer employee discounts. Some companies have arrangements with retailers, movie chains or restaurants to offer a percentage off goods and services and you could get gift certificates or movie tickets at a discount to give as Holiday gifts.

A fun and inexpensive holiday gift idea is to make chocolate covered spoons. They are great for dipping in hot drinks and are a fun project for the kids. All you need are some plastic spoons, chocolate, clear plastic wrap and ribbon. Melt the chocolate, dip the spoons in the chocolate and let them dry. To make them festive add some sprinkles before they dry. Once they're dry just wrap a few in plastic and tie with a ribbon.

If you have accumulated airline frequent flier miles, check to see if you can convert them into other goods or services, such as magazine subscriptions, or retail or restaurant gift certificates. Some credit cards have reward programs where you can trade points in for some pretty nice gift ideas.

When establishing your holiday gift budget, be sure to factor in any taxes, gift wrapping and shipping costs that are over and above the price tag on the gifts you have in mind. Depending on the length of your gift list, neglecting to factor in these incidental costs can really blow your budget.