Now that the gift wrap is off and the gifts are spread around under the Christmas tree, there might be a sense that you went a little bit overboard. If it isn’t the sheer number of gifts, perhaps it is the credit card bill or the drain on your bank account that tells you that you might have done a little too much. For me, it is usually the couple of extra gifts that I have left in the closet, too embarrassed or overwhelmed to bring them out.
Ah, isn’t it so easy to be Santa these days. Still, it isn’t too late to get on track for Christmas 2013! Guess what, you have a whole year to prepare and do better. Everyone will have a great Christmas with wonderful gifts, and you’ll have a better bank account and maybe even a tidy house.
Shop Ahead
There are a lot of after Christmas deals and clearance sales. While it seems a little antithesis, go out and do more shopping. Grab the best deals now and put them aside for next year. Just be sure to work from a list so you can cross your recipients off of it as you fulfill your perfect gifts.
Have a Budget and Stop When You Hit It
Establish an overall budget for Christmas gifts, and then divide the amount over twelve months. This gives you a monthly budget from which you can work. It will spread the expenses out over the entire year, so you won’t be hit with a huge bill at the end of the year. For big gifts that might cost more than the one month budget, you’ll need to save up or cut elsewhere in the budget. Doing this ensures that you won’t spend more than you have.
Don’t Try to Make It Even
With three children, my husband and I used to drive ourselves crazy making sure that each of them had an even dollar amount when it came to gifts. This usually ended badly. Now, instead, we just focus on what each child really wants and use the budget to get what we can. I have found that having an even number of gifts, if not value, works well. Just add it some inexpensive items from the dollar store here and there.