organize your finances for the holidays

As the Holiday season draws near, many of you might be wondering how you can afford to buy gifts this year...considering you still haven't finished paying off last years bills! Today more than ever it is crucial that you get your finances organized before the Holiday season to avoid overspending again!

There are lots of creative ways to have a wonderfully inexpensive Holiday...which will also save you much unneeded stress! Here are some suggestions to get you started!

• instead of several gifts for each child, do one gift for the family such as a night out on the town or at a favorite restaurant
  
• eliminate gifts all together and participate in a service project as a family
  
• hand make holiday cards and tags for gifts (the average card is $4.00!)
• wrap gifts in butcher block paper...it's very cheap and looks great with twine ribbon
• send holiday newsletters via e-mail...you'll save ink, paper, envelops and tons on postage
• give the gift of food...everyone loves home made goodies and the cost is very low

One thing to remember before you hit the malls is to set a budget and stick to it! If you have trouble with impulse purchases create an envelope system and put all the cash or gift cards you will use for Holiday shopping in one envelope. Once the cash is gone, you are done!

For more organizing ideas visit my website: www.andreadekker.com