Pulling In The Reins On Christmas Spending_1058

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It's early November and the Christmas decorations are going up with astonishing speed in the malls and stores around town. 
Every week, my local paper is stuffed to bursting with flyers and advertisements trying to convince me that my husband couldn't possibly enjoy life without the latest "it'll cut anything at the touch of a button" power tool, and life itself isn't worth living unless I buy him a new and improved cordless razor. 
Likewise, my children's lives would be less than fulfilled if they didn't have a television in each of their rooms, their own cell phone, and the "must have" footwear. And we all know that children whose every wish and whim isn't instantly fulfilled will need years of therapy to recover.
Yeah, right. Give me a break already!
Nowhere does our rampant consumerism manifest itself more than in the yearly Christmas shopping orgy that blankets the country from November on. The current economic climate in and of itself is likely enough to put the brakes on.
Even if the economy were just fine, and even if my confidence level about my family's earning capacity in the coming year was at an all time high, I would still not be reaching the levels of Christmas spending of years gone by.
This year I'm doing things a little differently.  I'm making a list of everyone that I want to buy a present for. Then I'm going to check it twice, and remove those names that are there only because I want them to be there (ie my neighbors, casual acquaintances,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, business associates etc). Sure, I like them well enough,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, but I don't like them enough, and in some cases don't even know them all that well, to blow the budget on them.
I'm going to make a budget,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, and stick to it. I'll decide, down to the penny, how much I can afford to spend. And with the exception of online purchases, I'm paying cash for everything I buy. I'm going to comparison shop to make sure I'm getting the best deal possible. 
When I do buy something online with a credit card, as soon as my purchase has been delivered to my door, I'm transferring the money from my bank account to my credit card. 
I'll get creative. I have over a dozen large jars of homemade jam and jellies in my pantry.  Tied with a ribbon and accompanied by a card,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, these will make perfect gifts for those that I can't afford to buy for. I'll go through my photo collection and print out some pictures, buy some inexpensive frames and here we have family keepsakes for the aunts and uncles. 
My children are in university and need books for the coming semester. I got a list of their reading requirements, went online and bought some of them for a fraction of what they would have paid in the schools bookstore. 
And I do all of this because I simply can't afford to do otherwise. That, and I hate going to the mall.
Pulling In The Reins On Christmas Spending