BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Current Events Holiday Gift-Giving Budget Cuts

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I would be interested to know how many people have a budget they stick to. I deal in pounds not dollars. A friend did all her Xmas shopping on line and came in within her budget of �100. My impression is that a lot of people have an idea of a budget in their head but it is not fixed. For instance they may have bought something in Xams or summer sales for this year's christmas, and they may or may not include that in their reckoning of what they spend.

As a woman who has a direct Scottish lineage, I have many different strategies for Christmas shopping - one of which includes shopping all year long and catching sales, discounts, giveaways, etc. throughout the year. However, there are many consumers who are rightfully focused on just making it through the year and then shopping for Christmas or Chanukah gifts during the holiday season. There's no question about it, worldwide economy has changed the complexion of gift-giving. How has the economy affected your gift-giving budget?

Christmas Gift Exchange Game - Host hands out secret "word" cards; reads a Christmas story; holder of "secret word" in story gets to pick from assortment of gifts, each donated by attendee at Christmas party. That's how we do it for a family with 11 siblings!