Christmas budgeting

Great ideas Janice! :)

My family does a simple gift exchange...We do not buy for everyone..It just costs way too much money. We do an exchange, everyone gets "SOMETHING"...We do the game where everyone buys something, and the first person picks a gift, then the next person can either take the first person's gift, or pick a new present...I don't know what it's called, but it's a lot of fun..We started doing that about 6 years ago..This gets all of us together. If anyone feels like buying more for other people, that's up to them.

Don't feel like you have to buy for everyone. :) The best part of the holidays are spending time with the people you love...I can't even tell you what I got for Christmas 4 years ago, but I do remember sitting on my Grandma's "hospital" bed here in my living room eating cheeseball and Ritz crackers..It was 3 days before she passed away.

Great idea from both Janice and Jessi.

Gifts are always sweet and can never be judged by value. I have secret chamber in my cupboard where I store all the gifts I have received, mainly cards. And when I feel depressed I open my Chamber of Secret and spend some time reading those cards and letters. It gives me a feeling of togetherness with my friends and loved ones.

When I had little money to spend, I can remember of preparing Christmas gifts by my own for friends and family. They really enjoyed it, hand-made gifts worth much.

These are great tips. My husband's family draws names so that helps out. We buy for one couple rather than everyone. I don't think anyone can afford that without going into major debt. Stanley, the handmade gift is always the best in my opinion. One of my mom's favorite gifts is the afghan I made her four years ago. She calls it her cuddle blanket. The memories of spending time with family are always going to outweight what video game you get.

There is truth to the saying "it is better to give than to receive". I have always gotten the most pleasure when I give a gift. Giving from your heart means you have thought about the person and about what might please him or make him happy. Giving means you are not thinking about yourself and your wants and needs, but are being completely selfless in your actions.

I agree with you Lorri. When I give a gift to someone, it is b/c I want to and I don't expect to receive one in return. I just recently gave a Xmas gift to a co-worker of mine and she immediately asked me, "what do you want?" I told her I didn't want anything.