Thoughts By Trail

The holiday season is here and I’m already in the Christmas spirit. Painfully this year many of us are financially burden with everything going with the economy, so shopping for Christmas is farther from our minds. So what do we do when we want to shop but feel we really can’t afford it? What do we do when we feel compelled to buy expensive gifts for those on our Christmas list? We set a budget for the amount of money we will spend altogether on gifts for our family and friends. The first thing to do is to make a list of everyone you intend to purchase a gift for this year. Try not to add everyone in the world you know, all is need is list of your most closest family and friends.

After making your list it may also be helpful to set a spending limit per person such as determining who will get the most expensive gifts. Don’t worry about not spending the same amount on everyone if you really can’t afford that. Remember it’s always the thought that counts and the spirit of giving. Shopping for children especially the younger kids are much easier to shop for and you can set your spending limit much cheaper for them. Also if you normally donate to the toy drives please add them to your shopping list and set a spending limit to that as well. The key is to not brake the bank this holiday season.

For those that are internet savvy I would recommend doing a little research on all the hottest items or what you have in mind to purchase to find the best deals. I’m deal buster queen I very rarely purchase anything without researching it for the best and lowest deal ever. Don’t be so quick to purchase the first item you see that seems to be reduced to it’s lowest price,
because mostly it’s much cheaper somewhere else. Sometimes switching your shopping routine up is very beneficial also, such as shopping on-line vs. in the department stores. Keep your eyes open their are deals everywhere this season. We are not the only one’s catching the financial burden the department stores are too they need us to shop with them.

Another helpful strategy is to separate your list into categories. For example you set a spending budget to $500.00. You might decide to spend 50% of your total budget on close friends and relatives, 25% of your total budget on business associates, 15% of your total budget on acquaintances and the remaining 10% on Christmas gifts for charity drives. Using this method along with a little research you can’t go wrong this holiday season with your financial budget. And what’s even more important your happy as well as your gift recipient is happy.

Finally using coupons is a great and old fashion way to shop with ease. This method can be used with purchasing holiday gifts as well as groceries. I know everyone is planning for their big Christmas dinner and that cost money as well. Their are lost of websites which allows you to print coupons offline and then take them to the department store and grocery for use, and their are the ones that are on-line only. This year I will be combining these methods to utilize and stretch my budget as far as possible this year. Hopefully you will have the same positive results with your shopping as well.

Good Luck! Merry Christmas to all!

A List of coupon sites

Coupons
PrintGroceryCoupons
CouponMom
MyCoupon
RetailMeNot