Yes, Virginia, we can have a frugal Christmas

Okay, I’m just plain sick of hearing about the economy (I think the media won’t let us forget), and did you hear that horrendous story about the Wal-Mart employee getting trampled to death on Black Friday. What a nightmare. People get a grip!

For this column I cobbled together the best ideas I could find about how to save money over Christmas (mainly shopping).

• Make a spending plan and stay to budget. If you don’t think you can do that, split the money up and put it into envelopes marked with the recipient’s name. When you run out of funds, you’re done.

• Here’s a novel idea: use cash. It’s much harder to buy things with cold, hard cash than it is to use the little impersonal card that only shocks when you get the bill. If you are poor with math or accounting, use that calculator that came with your wallet.

• Shop with a friend who will hurry you along. I love this suggestion and nine times out of ten, your friend will be a man (the one who holds your coat and purse while you try things on). But, this is not about you so don’t shop for yourself!

• Keep Christmas just for the children. Honestly, how many things do we need? Remember clutter and garage sales? will your gifts wind up there next year?

• Wrap presents creatively, like in the Sunday funny pages. Or old maps (I love the way maps look on presents); and use twine or cotton string.

• Hit the dollar stores. I watched my grandson’s first birthday and the gift he liked best was the box.

• Make a game out of it. Add a ton of interactivity into the gift-giving and no one will notice how much or who got what. Want an example? Tie long strings to the gifts and hide them around the room but criss-cross the strings and loop them and make it an effort to unwind. Give them one end and watch the fun. Or play “Dirty Santa”—the game where the same gift gets stolen over and over.

• Use bartering or the exchange system, like I want your white elephant, what do I have that you want (and think creatively). Or, better still, how about using the “I owe you” notes or coupons for one free night of babysitting, one day making snowmen or a special haircut, massage, manicure….

• Talk to your family about the economics of Chrismas (Hanukkah) and ask what they might like to do instead of shopping like crazy? Oh, they want you to spend time with them doing what? crafting, baking, board games?

• Go for the meaningful instead of the wow. For me that means giving more of yourself.

• Try cash gifts.

• At work, the office, the factory, whatever, vote to keep the Secret Santa exchange to $10 or less.

• Comparison and price shop online. Yes, save the trip and buy from HSN, QVC or ShopNBC and buy only “free ship” items

• Go the discount store route instead of the mall. If you can’t find cool things at Wal-Marts, Target or Costco, I won’t believe it.

• Leave town for a cabin in the woods and have fun outdoors hiking, or making a fire, and just slacking off and being selfish.