This will be a tough year for many families. As I am writing this, I am thinking about the stack of property tax bills on my counter, and also the holiday gifts that my kids want. This may seem like a bad time to think about being frugal, but it is probably one of the best times. So how can I cut some expenses, like holiday gift giving, while sticking to a budget.

A Holday Gift Budget is Important!

Before you buy anything, write down a realistic budget. If you can set aside $300 or $1,000, I would suggest taking that amount of money out in cash. It is a lot easier to stick to your budget if you have to spend real money instead of just swiping plastic at the register. If you cannot use cash, try to keep a register of your expenses. The act of keeping a tally and writing it down will help.

So Where Can We Find Cheap Gifts that are Still Nice?

I have written about this before, but thrift stores can be gold mines of inexpensive gifts. You will also be doing triple duty with your dollars by recycling items and helping a charity like the Salvation Army. Now doesn’t that make you feel good?

There are a couple of large thrift stores near me. They have everything from housewares to furniture. Your 3 year old won’t mind that the kitchen set was gently used by another toddler. Your Uncle Bob won’t know that the tie hung in another closet.  And sometimes you can find some really nice things, like china and candlesticks that deserve another chance at usefulness and beauty.

Gift Exchanges

At our big family holiday gift exchange, we each bring one wrapped gift. Everybody takes a number, picks a gift, and gets to exchange it with anybody who is willing. It is actually a lot of fun and works out ok. Sometimes we bring some special kid friendly gifts for children, so they go home happy. But the adults are usually very happy with whatever they end up, and they are also relieved to only bring one gift instead of dozens.

Homemade Gifts

Now I know you are groaning, but you really can make some things that will be better appreciated than some store bought gifts. Holiday cookies, arranged on a holiday plate, and covered with colored plastic wrap are always appropriate. With a mix, some toppings,  a trip to the dollar store, and a little creativity, you can make up dozens of these for the price of one gift in a department store. You won’t have to apoligize for it either!

Stopping Materialism at Home

This does not work so well with younger children, but I find that adolescents tend to want a lot of expensive things, without really realizing how much they cost. I try to find some average amount of the valud of the things they want and give them cash instead of a gift. What I find is that they tend to purchase a lot less than they wanted me to buy them, and they save some of the money for something they might want later.

So if one of my kids wants a $200 mp3 gadget or a $150 digital camera, I give them the money. It is interesting to see if they still want the item enough to part with their riches. Sometimes they still buy it, but sometimes they delay the purchase.

This is not a bad exercise for people of any age.

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We found a great place to read, and to share, some great ideas for frugal food shopping! One of our sister websites, Frugal Mavens, is running a couple of contests which should help us all brainstorm and save money every week. Please visit before you make up your next grocery list!

Cheap Meal Planning Contest

This one involves meal planning for one dinner. The dinner should be healthy, tasty, and attractive to the tastes of a family with adults and kids. Entries should keep the per-person cost of each meal fairly low just to demonstrate that thrifty cooks can still provide great meals!

See the Cheap Meal Plan Tips Contest Here!

Cheap Weekly Grocery Shopping

This contest is more complex, so you may want to start with the first one. You must lay out a week’s grocery shopping for food that does not cost more than $150. The editor’s example cost about $100. With this list, you mus provide 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners, and 5 snacks for a family of 4. Again, meals should be balanced and healthy, tasty, and something that you believe kids or adults would enjoy.

See the Cheap Grocery Shopping Contest Here.

Can You Enter The Contests?

You can simple register and put your entry in a comment to enter. It is all free, and is meant to draw attention to the USDA guidelines for how much a week’s worth of healthy meals should cost.  We would encourage everybody to visit the website, and either join or get some great ideas for next week’s grocery shopping yourself!

Stay Updated for more Frugal Shopping Tips!

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And of course, we all meant to start a holiday savings account last January. But somehow, with higher prices and lower returns, that account either got raided, or never even started in the first place. Don’t feel guilty, but just figure out how to attack this holiday season without it. There’s always next year.

So how can you get through this season without racking up strained credit card bills? Alot of it comes down to being organized. Go ahead and follow Santa’s lead; make a list and check it twice! Then go through your list and assign a budget. If you know you want to spend $100 on teenaged Suzy and $15 on Uncle Tony, you will be able to see if your total budget is realistic. Don’t forget to add in presents you will need for work or social club events.

Now if you get to the bottom of that list, and the total is just unrealistic, this is a good time to figure that out. You know, Uncle Tony might not mind a nicely packaged box of homemade cookies, and Suzy might have to accept a $75 mall shopping card instead of a $100 one!

Shop now, and it next year, remember to start shopping in advance. That electronics device that your oldest son has to have might have been cheaper, and more available, in July. Those people who do their holiday shopping all year around, in an organized way, spend less. If you cannot afford the $500 game system right now, think about giving a $100 gift card to the store where they can be purchased.

Saving towards a goal will be good for John Jr. in the long run anyway! And maybe you can spread it around to all of John Jr’s friends and relatives that a gift card to that store is the gift of choice. Many of them will be relieved because they do not have to figure out what to buy a teenager anyway!

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