It is good to enjoy Christmas time, as well as the gifts from all your relatives and friends. It makes our lives memorable. And for kids the biggest thing about Christmas is the gifts they can get, no matter how old they are. But did you ever realized that you have spent too much on the gifts after the Christmas? Or did it shock you when the credit card bill comes after the Christmas? If so, you should plan for next Christmas and reconsider your gift buying plans.

First of all, you need to have a budget. It may be $100, $1000, or $10000, depending on your income or financial status. Stick to it, even though there is a big chance that you will blow it. But keep the number in your mind, and do the math after each purchase. Then you need to make a list of relatives and friends to whom you need to buy gifts. Write a rough dollar amount next to the name, this is the money you want to spend on him or her. Now you have a rough idea that how much you will need to spend on the gifts for the Christmas.

You probably need to buy speicial gifts for your family members. Ask them first, see what they want and if they fit your budget. If not, ask again for alternatives. Start gifts buying for them first. Compare prices at different stores. Remember, buy them online, you will always get lower prices, and better yet, you will always get online coupons in most of cases, especially during the holiday shopping season.

Please don’t go to Black Friday or Cymer Monday sale. It will only make you end up buying something useless. You may have get something at very low prices. But what are they good for if you don’t really need them? Trust me, retailers will only mark down the prices that they want to get rid of fast! Stick to what you need only.

Now that you have finished shopping for your closed ones, start shopping for your not-so-close friends, colleagues, or relatives. There are places named online wholesale retailers, such as DollarDays, Light In The Box, ABC Distributing, LTD Commodities, Smile Makers, etc. You will need to buy items in boxes or cases, usually 12 pieces to a few hundreds pieces. The prices are very low, only fractions of normal prices. Sometimes they offer gift boxes filled with mystery gifts. Those are good buys too. These retailers do not offer dollar off or percentage off coupons, but they do have free shipping offer sometimes.

After you finished all the shopping, add up all the money you have spent on the gifts. Are there something maybe you don’t need? Maybe you can return some of the items? Are they out of your budget? Maybe you can save more next year?