Don't overspend on last-minute Christmas gifts

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16: With one week left until Christmas you may be dragging yourself out of bed at the break of dawn tomorrow, hitting the stores trying to get all that last minute Christmas shopping completed — fear not, you will not be alone.

Many of us still have a few folks on our list that we need to get gifts for, not to mention food to buy and last minute home décor. The challenge is where to go for the best deals and how much to spend.

Last minute shopping can be stressful and most people will end up spending more than they originally want to just to complete their Christmas shopping. If money is tight, consider what you actually need and more importantly what you can afford to spend.

Tips

Here are three tips to help you avoid overspending on last minute Christmas shopping.

Have a list and a budget

Christmas shopping with only a credit card in hand and your trusty memory is a recipe for disaster. More than likely you will end up impulse shopping and spending more than you can afford.

A good way to stick to an affordable budget is to have a concise list of everything you need. Next to each item and name on your lists write the dollar amount you can afford to spend. 

Add it all up; can you afford all of this without going into debt? Gift giving is probably the one area where the budget is most flexible.

Avoid buying on credit

Don’t rely on credit to have a good Christmas.

Save money by spending only what you can afford without using your credit card. When you calculate the cost of everything on your list if you can’t afford to spend that much cash, trim the list.

Do you really want to still be paying credit card bills in March for items you bought in December? Remember, it’s not wise to buy this year’s Christmas presents with next year’s money.

Shop around

Many of the local retailers have websites and you can save a lot of money and time by surfing the web. Even if you don’t actually buy the gift on line you can comparison-shop while checking out the best deals.

Then visit the store with the best price.

Give your wallet a break this year and don’t let the holiday season tempt you into spending more than you can afford.

You don’t want to end up with the post holiday burden of debt while trying to please everyone with expensive Christmas gifts, more food than necessary and things that you don’t need and you don’t end up using. Remember, people appreciate simple and meaningful over expensive and useless.

Honey Adams is the education officer for the Department of Consumer Affairs.