December 10, 2009
My holiday spending has begun with an online foray last night in search of toys for five-year-olds. I scored with two purchases for my grandson that do NOT require batteries. The spending continued this morning at Walgreens where I picked up some personalized greeting cards and spontaneously bought some stocking stuffers. In the back of my head, I sort of have a budget for Christmas spending. My older son's birthday also comes up this month. Some years, I've actually worked from a set dollar amount per person. This year, it's a bit fuzzy....I'm going with a more intuitive, "just do what feels right" strategy in my gift selections. I know there's danger in that because of my reseach about women and gift-giving. We, as a group, tend to over do it, spend more on short-term feel-good purchases for our children, grandchildren, friends etc. But by doing this we can short-change ourselves and our long-term need to save for retirement. The people at Wife.org offer tips for holiday budgeting and gift- giving geared to women. Use the holiday budget planner that goes beyond gift purchases to include additional costs related to food, entertaining and even wrapping paper. There are also tips on how to provide a great holiday on a budget. For example, Tip No. 8. Shorten your gift list. It's not necessary to buy everyone a present. There are alternatives. Tip No. 9. Next year, pay Santa first. Set up a holiday savings plan now. After paying off this year's bills, put aside $50 to $100 a month for next year's holiday presents. You'll emerge from next year's holiday rush debt-free. Good luck to all of us.
