I love presents! I love waking up on Christmas morning to a tree drowning in presents. My family spends the day opening presents, watching movies, eating good food and talking to friends and relatives on the phone. Heavenly.

However, creating that pile of presents without breaking the budget and without gathering ANY credit card debt is a trick. A trick that I have pulled off for many years, by the way.

Here are my top 8 No Debt Santa Claus secrets:

1. Shop all year long. Yep, you start shopping the day after Christmas. Grab up those very last 90% off clearance wrapping paper and store it for next year. Christmas DOES come once a year whether you plan for it or not.
2. Determine a “secret hiding place” for gifts that you collect throughout the year. When my kids were little, I kept boxes in the attic. Now, everyone knows where the secret place is and agrees not to look.
3. Buy gifts for yourself and give them to someone else to hold onto until the holidays. I don’t know about you, but I really am the best person to buy gifts for myself. I know what I want and I am out shopping for everyone else. When I see something that I like that is a great buy, I snatch it up and give it to my daughter to store for me. Then, I “forget” about it until I open my gift. One of the advantages of this tip is that I don’t have to return my gift because it is already the perfect present.
4. Buy gifts at yard sales. I have gotten some of the very best gifts at yard sales. I bought a $200 beaded lamp for $20. My daughter and I were both there and so we both “forgot” about it.
5. Redeem credit card points for gift cards. I do not have credit card debt, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t use my credit cards. I pay off my cards in full when I get the bill every month and I use the points for gift cards. My family particularly likes the movie passes and book store gift cards.
6. Make homemade goodies to give as gifts. It is well known that I make chocolate covered pretzels during the holidays. My hubby’s co-workers have been asking for them all year. These are a great way to give a little something to many people without breaking the bank. I purchase the necessary ingredients throughout the year when I see them on sale.
7. Learn how to create unique gift wrapping. The fact is that you can get gift wrap and tags super cheap at the 99 cent store. I use gift bags with tissue paper quite a lot. However, along with keeping to one’s budget, you also want to have the holidays be a time of creating beauty and memories with your family. Making handmade gift tags is a wonderful activity to do with your kids. Teaching them how to wrap a beautiful present is a lifelong skill.
8. Find out what your friends REALLY want as a gift. Perhaps what you mom really wants from you is a mother-daughter day of baking, shopping or just taking a long walk. Maybe your best friend would love to have you coming and help her reorganize her closet. Perhaps you co-worker would like to have a lunch together to talk about something other than work. Many times the very best gift is just your time and attention. Don’t under estimate the value of YOU as the best gift.

What do you think? Did I miss something important?

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