Ways to Avoid Going Overboard During Your Holiday Shopping

I'm happy to say that it's not even December yet, and I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. More importantly, I did my shopping this year and, unlike past years, did not hurt myself financially.

In the past, this would be a problem for me. We would do our shopping. We would end up spending too much. And, as a result, some bills would have to be paid late. Not late enough where they would be put in collections but late enough where we would be charged a late fee.

This year, I went into the holiday shopping season with a whole new game plan and found it worked wonders. It's possible to buy for everyone in your family and not have to spend all of next year getting caught up on credit card debt. It just takes a bit of planning.

Make a list, check it twice. Write down everyone you need to buy for; your spouse, your children, your parents, aunts, uncles, etc. This is an important step because it'll keep you from spending your budget and then discovering you forgot a couple of people.

Decide what you're going to buy before you buy it. In the past, I would go to the store and wander for several hours looking for the right gift. This not only was time consuming, it also meant I would end up spending more on a person than I intended to. Now, prior to shopping, I spend time looking through sales flyers and even store Web sites looking for the perfect gift. When I find it, I write it down on the list I mentioned above and then take some time to find it at the lowest price.
You can still go to the store to look for a gift if you need to, just don't buy it right away.
If you can, it's also good to have an alternative gift, around the same price range, just in case you can't find the present you wanted to give the person.