Let’s be honest.  Christmas does not come cheap anymore.  Stores take advantage of the popularly commercialized season raising prices and the economy has been rather naughty than nice this holiday season. Despite these circumstances it is not fair to let the holiday season go by without celebrating it even if it means those mountains of gifts in the past have now turned into bumps in the road.  This year families should be smart about how to organize their Christmas activities in order for everyone to get that special Christmas gift that they want along with saving the money that the need to make ends meet.

One of the best family Christmas gift savings ideas is the following:

• Everyone in your family agrees on a price limit.  Therefore, you can spend up to $75 or $100 on the gift for the person.  A budget range for Christmas gifts is usually better so anywhere from $55 to $85 for instance.  This means that the Christmas gift that is gifted cannot cost less than $55 and no more than $85.  If a person wants multiple gifts then they would have to add up to $55 and not go over $85.  Therefore, your little sister can ask for the Hannah Montana movie, a Bratz Doll and the New Jonas Brothers CD.
• Then everyone in the family writes down their name on a piece of paper and the gift or the Christmas gifts that they would like for the Holidays and the approximate price if they know what it is.
• Then all of the pieces of paper are crumbled up into a hat.  Each member of the family then proceeds to pick out a name that is in the hat.  No one is allowed to say who he or she picked so it is like Secret Santa.
• At Christmas, all of the gifts are placed out and the secret Santa can then give the gift to the person.

This is a great way to save money on Christmas gifts for multiple reasons.  The first is that many times we buy gifts for our family members but we have no idea what they want and end up buying something that they do not use or wear.  That is a waste of money.  To make matters worse, we then do this for everyone in the family spending much more unnecessary money on Christmas gifts. 

By writing down exactly what you want, then you are going to receive what you want for Christmas without and fake smiles and returning things behind one’s back.  Everyone is happy because they got their Christmas gift and only had to spend the money in the budget without having to go over and without having to spend money on everyone in the family.  There are alternatives to this Christmas gift game to make it special for your family but it is a great way to save money and to get what you want.