How to Have a Debt Free Christmas - Set a Budget For Gifts During the Holidays

by Felix McDougnan

There are certainly some interesting approaches that people take when they set a budget for their Christmas shopping. Well, all their shopping can apply to this but it's more prevelant during the Christmas season. There are several ways that people can go about budgeting and it's important to weigh your options in advance before setting one in stone.

One strategy for establishing a Christmas shopping budget is to determine how much money you would like to spend and then divide the individuals into different categories. Some of the categories you might want to include are close friends and relatives, business associates, acquaintances and gifts which are purchased for people you do not know. Once you have all of the members of your list categorized you can determine the percentage of your total budget you would like to spend on each category.

For example 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. Then you can use these numbers to determine the total amount of money you will spend on each category and divide that number by the total number of people in each category to figure out a dollar amount for each person on your Christmas list.

A final strategy for establishing a budget for your Christmas shopping is to start out by determining how much you plan to spend on some of the most important people on your gift recipient list. This will most likely include your closest relatives. Once you set dollar amounts for your closest relatives, it is time to divide up the remaining amount of money in your Christmas shopping budget.

However, if it is necessary to do all of the Christmas shopping at one time, it is wise to save up during the year for these purchases. Before you begin shopping, evaluate the amount of money you have saved and set a budget for your Christmas shopping. This way even though you are using a credit card and will receive a large bill the following month, you should have enough money to repay the bill in its entirety and avoid paying interest on the debt.

About the Author:

Felix McDougnan has written extensively about budget and financial matters and acts as a consultant. He also adores the holiday season and writes about suggestions for xmas presents. You can visit his xmas presents website at one of those links.. Check here for free reprint license: How to Have a Debt Free Christmas - Set a Budget For Gifts During the Holidays.