Jason is a financial advisor and Dave Ramsey-trained counselor that blogs over at WorkSaveLive. He aims to educate his readers on a variety of financial topics while sharing his family’s journey out of debt and a few delicious recipes.
Wow, a post about Christmas shopping already?! I know, it’s a little early but October is right around the corner and Christmas will be here before you know it!
As the holiday seasons rolls around so comes a time of great struggle and difficultly for many families. A time of year that’s supposed to be filled with joy and happiness is often overshadowed by people’s anxiety and struggle with their financial life.
As a financial coach, I’ve seen first-hand how many families rely on debt to make it through the holiday season. Then they had to work the first 2 or 3 months of the next year just to pay off the presents that their children had already lost or broken.
My hope for everybody reading this is that you take a step to enjoying a debt-free Christmas. One that you and the family can enjoy in December and not have to regret in January.
Six Ways to Survive Christmas Without Debt
1. Start Saving NOW!
It may sound strange, but Mrs. WSL and I start saving for Christmas in January. The way I teach budgeting involves having a specific savings account for targeted expenses. I call them “non-monthly” expenses but in reality they’re just bills and costs that a person/family will encounter randomly throughout the year.
For us these bills/expenses include: home owner’s association dues, annual life insurance premiums, home repairs, car maintenance, and yes, Christmas and birthday presents.
Even though you haven’t been saving since January, there is no better time than NOW to put away cash each month so you’re prepared to buy those gifts when Christmas rolls around.
2. Establish a Limit & Be Realistic
One of the greatest things you can do for your financial situation is establish a limit for each child and family member you plan to buy a gift for. In some cases, and particularly ours for the last 3 years, you might not have the money to buy anybody a gift. Instead of going into debt to buy people’s happiness, just be honest with them and tell them you’re not buying gifts this year as you’re trying to get your financial life in order.
These days we have a fairly strict budget and spend no more than $40 on each person/couple in our family. By having a specific amount in mind, it makes it easier to determine how much you need to save each month to get there.
For instance, if you have 8 people you’ll be buying gifts for: 3 kids, your husband, and each set of parents (4 people total), then you should set limits on each one. Maybe the kids will each get $100, the hubby can suck it up and take $30, and maybe each parent will be allocated $50. That’s a total of $530. With 3 months to save (considering you can’t count all of December), that means you need to set aside $175 each of the next few months to hit your goal!
3. Be Thoughtful & Get Creative
To be transparent, I’ll admit that I’m not a parent (at least not yet), but I’ve talked to enough people and been around kids long enough to know that many young ones don’t know the difference between an expsensive gift and a cheap one.
Instead of spending a lot of money on children under 6 years old, just focus on quantity. The more presents to tear open, the happier they are. The sad truth is that many of these toys will get tossed aside and given to Goodwill in a matter of months anyhow.
If you’re married and the budget is tight then consider free alternatives such as giving your spouse a massage, or if you’re a husband you could offer to be the “cook for the night” on a few occasions or the “housekeeper for the weekend.” If you and your wife are on the same page financially then it’s likely your spouse won’t even care if you don’t buy them a gift. At the WSL household my wife and I haven’t bought each other a Christmas present for the last 6 years that we’ve been together. Okay…that’s a small fabrication: she bought me a $3 coffee mug last year.
4. Ask for Practical Gifts in Return
My wife makes fun of me because I rarely want or ask for things. That’s changed recently as I’ve been dreaming of owning an iSomething but I’m fairly cheap and just don’t want to spend the money.
Saying all of that, if people want to buy us Christmas gifts we ask for gift cards to the grocery store we frequent, gas, or to a particular store where we have our eye on some household appliance we want. You might not believe me when I say this but I recently received a book of stamps for my birthday. 
I wish I was kidding.
5. Don’t Buy Fancy Christmas Cards
I have a grandparent that makes her own cards each year and absolutely saves a bundle. I’d much rather have a self-made card with a personal note in it as opposed to a $4 card from Hallmark with some lame/sappy phrase written by somebody in a cubicle 1,000 miles away.
If you have a large family this will really add up! I estimate we spend a good $80-$100/year on cards and it’s absolute insansity. Lately we’ve opted for the large box of cards that come fairly cheap; we even save boxes from years past so that way we can mix up the cards and don’t have to give every family member the same card that year.
6. Focus on Spending Time Together
For younger children and teenage kids I realize this may not work, but it should for anybody that is over the age of 20. The reality of our world is that we’re extremely driven by material things. Why do people get so upset and offended if you don’t buy them a gift? Why do others get annoyed when they’re given a gift that they don’t appreciate? Why do some even feel obligated or get sad at the thought that they can’t afford to buy family presents?
While this is just my belief, I truly think that we now show love through the giving and receiving of material possessions because we place so much value/worth in them. The more you can buy me, the happier I’ll be. But…if you’re not going to get me what I want, then please don’t bother.
Our pursuit of things has really changed what Christmas is all about and it’s really sad to see. Try to simply enjoy the time you have with your family this year and cherish the moments you have with them.
Navigating through Christmas and the myriad of presents is a daunting challenge, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Instead of going into debt this year, start saving now, get creative, set a budget, and tell people no if you have to.
Have you started saving for Christmas yet? Are you at least considering it after reading this post?
An accountant by day and blogger by night, Lance is the owner of this site. 
I would say planning ahead (combined with setting a limit) is the absolute best way to save money on Christmas shopping. Before we make any purchases, we always make a list of everyone we need to buy gifts for and how much we plan on spending.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget
DC, that’s great you plan ahead like that! I actually wonder how many people really sit down and make a list for everybody they need to buy a gift for and establish a dollar limit for them. Is that common?
Jason recently posted..Tragedy Strikes Close to Home: Why You Need to Have Life Insurance
Oh man, I wish we could just spend time together and skip the gifts. My husband’s extended family has about 40 people in it and we need to buy a gift for just about everyone – so time-consuming! Even more difficult (but necessary) is imposing the $10/child limit we put in place last year.
My husband and I basically never get gifts for each other at set times – just approve the occasional special treats outside of our budget throughout the year.
I guess we’re already saving for Christmas – we at least know how big the shortfall in our Travel and Personal Gifts savings account is!
Emily @ evolvingPF recently posted..Can You Change Your Tightwad/Spendthrift Personality?
That’s excellent you at least know what your shortfall is! 40 people is a CRAZY amount…oh my. That’s great people invoked the $10/child limit. Can anybody remind me why we need to buy kids more toys? Wouldn’t it be better if the families encouraged others to contribute to the child’s 529 account?
Jason recently posted..Tragedy Strikes Close to Home: Why You Need to Have Life Insurance
Oh, the $10 limit is just for us – I have no idea how much other people spend. A lot of the families are sort of not that well off so they tend to make their gifts, but my parents-in-law are comparatively well off so they’ve been known to give video game consoles (one per family). I really, really wish they did Secret Santa or something but as an in-law I don’t think it’s my place to try to change their traditions. Or a 529 contribution. I would probably be willing to give more than $10 if it were for such a good purpose!
Emily @ evolvingPF recently posted..Can You Change Your Tightwad/Spendthrift Personality?
Don’t know about you, but we’ve noticed we have in effect two lists of gifts: obligatory and peer pressure. Obligatory is family and close friends. Peer pressure is that list where you suspect a less-close friend will be giving you something, so you have to be preemptive and get something for them, just in case.
One of the best ways to escape the peer pressure list is simply to be out of town during the last two or three weeks of December. Granted, you don’t really save money, because it will cost about the same, but it is so much more fun. And you have the added bonus that you can buy souvenirs as Christmas gifts for the obligatory list.
LOL. Your solution to the peer pressure gifts is hilarious. I wrote a blog post about this last year but it’s INSANE how we view Christmas and giving gifts. Why in the world should I buy somebody a $20 gift card just because they’re going to do the same for me? I’ve basically just been forced to spend money and buy myself a gift card.
It’s craziness. We’ve just been honest with people, told them not to get us anything, and instead offered to bake the family cookies or give money to charity.
Jason recently posted..Tragedy Strikes Close to Home: Why You Need to Have Life Insurance
I think about it throughout the year when I’m out & about. On a trip a few months ago, I saw an angel bell that I knew my mom would like, so I bought it. It was cheap, but I know she’ll love it. Right about now is when I make a list of all of the people I still need gifts for and make notes about what they like. This way, I can take my time shopping for them and I’m open to finding great deals throughout the year. I don’t have to rush to buy everybody’s gift on December 24th and spend a boatload of money on crap that nobody cares about.
I like the idea of spending time together versus worrying about spending on christmas gifts. In fact, when I visit relatives I often tell them that the real christmas present is me being there. Hehe, I’m a diva like that!
Veronica @ Pelican on Money recently posted..Unemployment Up, Income Down, Better Off? – Yes.
Great list – I especially like #6 as this is what it’s all about.
I love Christmas, but its always been the fear of spending that has made me dread the after bill in Jan. Now I have a Christmas fund and save regularly for it. Makes Christmas so much more fun!
Jason Clayton | frugal habits recently posted..It’s Time for a Challenge, the Yakezie Challenge
Well put Jason. We start saving all year along as well. I think the key is to set a limit and not exceed it. It’s too easy to get crazy buying stuff you don’t need!
My Money Design recently posted..Social Security Benefits – The Kid Picked Last for Dodgeball
It is a shame how commercial Christmas has become over the years. Buying some gifts out of season would save money too, but I’m just never that organized. I end up being one of those people running around during the last week. I don’t think I could do the no gift thing with a girlfriend or wife though. For some reason I still feel the need to have something to give that person and I like receiving something myself.
Modest Money recently posted..5 Frugal Tips To Get You Through Hardship
Great guide for gift-buying. We also start saving in January ($50 a month) for gifts. We buy things throughout the year and check off our list of names. I love going into the holidays knowing we have purchased every gift already, so we don’t stress!
This year is a little different for us, as we are not making enough money to save for gifts, so we have a small budget for baked goods, cards, and homemade gifts
Jacob @ iHeartBudgets recently posted..Michelle’s Frugal Finds: Half Price Emeals!!
@AmyLou – thanks for stopping by and commenting! I love the idea of picking up random gifts throughout the year. It really helps spread things out and while you’re not saving each month specifically for Christmas, you basically are!
@Jason C – spending time with people is what Christmas is all about (well, among another BIGGER thing), but we’ve forgotten that. We’ll all about stuff these days.
@Jeremy – It is sad how commercial everything has gotten. Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. Just goes to show how much our values have shifted over time.
@Jake – the baked goods thing is something we’ve done for the past couple of years. We actually made a competition out of it with my brother and I, but it ended up going a little too far and I spent more on baking than I would have on a gift! lol.
Jason recently posted..Tragedy Strikes Close to Home: Why You Need to Have Life Insurance
This will make me sound like a dork, but I love seeing Christmas PF posts. Makes me happy that it’s getting closer! We haven’t started shopping yet, but I will be looking for the best deals. The boy has a HUGE family and it always eats up a large part of our Christmas budget.
Michelle recently posted..How can interest rates affect my savings?
Good tips! Why limit it to Christmas shopping? I think it applies all year long.
krantcents recently posted..Volunteering Changed Me!
@krantcents – I couldn’t agree more! We practice this with birthday gifts as well and obviously many of the tips apply to daily living/budgeting.
Jason recently posted..Tragedy Strikes Close to Home: Why You Need to Have Life Insurance
Haha, when I saw the title, I did a double-take! I said, surely this “unseasonal” article must be a inadvertent repost or something, but then I read one of the first bullet points (start saving now). I stand corrected
Roshawn @ Watson Inc recently posted..Does Wealth Reduce Compassion?
7. Start Shopping Now
Avoid the December rush at the malls by buying a few gifts before Thanksgiving. You’ll thank yourself later.