Martin Lewis says save some money at Christmas...

He says don't buy any presents for anybody, good or bad idea? What would you do, will traders suffer or is it a load of old 'crackers'.

See his website at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ for lots more ways to save money.

My family agreed not to exchange gifts this year...only for my girls thats it.  I like making gifts. I can make scarfs, jewelery, paintings and so on. I think it's time to be creative and festive instead of paying loads of money for gifts!

Well, for obvious reasons, purchasing gifts is out of the equation for me this year; but as a Christian, Christmas has always been about celebrating the birth of holiness into this world.

They can take away my purchasing power but they can't stop me from putting up my tree and singing carols, and celebrating the season in my heart. :-)

That's right Diana!!!! I'm in the same boat...money wise! I've started listening to Christmas music last night!! I love it! Puts in in such a good mood!!!

Who needs money when you have fun, and friends!

This is absolute nonsense. Yes, if your buying Lear Jets and private villas, and big ticket items.. it might be an time to cut back the spending a bit, but since when do you ask parents of an new baby to cut back on the Chirstmas Gifts for the kid...you don't ...God made it impossible....though you can be sensible about it.

As for my shopping, I try to get the best price, and many of the things I get at an Thrift shop I  get for $3.99...but it's true..even there you need to know your pricing. Any of the things you buy you could down the line if its everyday stufff resell and most likely get your money out of it or else donate it back for at least half the cost. Anything that is an true bargain seldom stays there for very long. You just have to make sure you don't run into an neighbor like I had, whom told me if I tried to have an yard sale, he'd turn me in for operating an business without an license...but he had one in his garage going on. When I brought that up, he said, but I take my work out on the road, it's only my office. Upon which my neighbor lady heard him say this to me and the next week filed for her beautyshop in her spare bedroom and got it and is doing an great job so far. Private cliente most the time. She arranges to not take more then two/three people a day and hours randomly and they use her driveway. It is absouletly no bother to me in any way. I felt our nieghbors up the street should of let the "estate" house of this area go into an Bed and Breakfast, and with the other neighbors supporting each other it could of helped earn money in the area and made the guests feel very welcomed with the country "walk to" services we could of provided them. Instead, she lost the house as she didn't own her own business like her grandparents did to afford such an home...the property taxes eventually took her out. But something tells me she didn't actually "earn" the house anyway to an degree.I knew her grandparents for an long time, I never heard them mention her name....though I guess she was an granddaughter by Alma's first marriage, not of there's.

Ok..back to the this thing about buying presents, there' s nothing  wrong with picking names and setting monetary limits. If you know me and my ways, you'll probably get more from me though for the same amount of money that most people spend. I say if you cut back on the gifts, go someplace and do something special instead as an family. If you live in the country..go to the city for an weekend, if you live in the city, go to the country for an weekend..vice versa. If your like me, go where ever you like...which might be Santa's shoppe in your back yard for Hot Chocolate wiht the grandkids, and Yes, we have been known to drive up to Mt. Hood and get an pickup load of snow and dump it in the front yard for the kids to play in. Sometimes, two pickup loads. We even built us our own rocket one year, used July 4th sparklers around the bottom for the rockets, did the  count-down, Mary shouted "Lift off" as we lit them, when they stopped we bombarded the whole thing into an snowball fight. MIke came an saved my hide from the Anderson kid, he is vicious...gave him back an bit of his own medicine he was giving the litle kiddies. I think he figured it out eventually...be nicer.

To some degree I'm cutting down the decorations, but I'm doing things differently...I'm making my hubby's tool shed he never has moved into as yet into an kids camp/Santa "hot Chocolate" Shoppe. For the most part the things I've bought for out there I'll keep for years, maybe give as gifts some year, maybe re-sell. You can bet by the time I do that they will be used at an price people couldn't pay for what I gave for them. I have been getting "New" tablecloths at the Salvation Army for $2.00 each. Normal around $8.99 each. Some store gave them the last of their stock apparently. Buying there helps everyone. It provides jobs, it gives me an bargain and the money they have they help others less fortunate. Now let's get to the less fortunate. Like my diabetic sister with no bottom teeth, whom had to spend money for an dentist, whom tells me and her church she has no food for the next two weeks until she gets her assistance check again. Which one of you would want to have to turn your sister back and say no...I'm not hearing anyone. Now you know one of the reasons I have an on-going pantry at my house. I told her I was giving her Christmas Present to her early this year. She asked for an blanket...I gave her an 8 piece bedding set in an subdued strip of beige, burgany, green, and one fuzzy throw blanket, I will keep going back to teh Godowill to find an large sleepign bag for her if I can.....I figured she could probably use the new sheets, and this as an comforter over an bed skirt, so it shouldn't take an professional cleaners to wash it. Then I hit my pantry, two of everything I had,,,macaroni and cheese, baked beans, turkey dinner, lasaguna dinner, green beans, carrots, pickled beets, two "Friday special" Turkey breasts cooked, $5. each, large can of chicken, can of Corned beef, and 8 Arby's" Roast beef "sandwhichs, $1.00 each on weekends. French bread/Rye bread and cheese loaf to make fondue. chili, Stove top stuffing, various gravy mixes, 4 cans of pears, 12 cups of Strawberry Jello with peaches, 2 boxes of an pasta salad mix, and the mayo to go with them, two boxes sweet potatoes, two packets of Garlic roasted Mashed potaote, two boxes of Ritz Crackers, and then I went shopping, and small chocolate pudding cake,  strawberry cheesecake..frozen, 1/2 gallon Pumpkin Ice Cream, two cans cranberry sauce, 12 dozen butter flaked dinner rolls....in the dinner for two section...two conatiners of potato salad, and one of coleslaw...the church gave her some soups, and also is taking her to there weekend "pot luck" dinners also. I'll check back on her come around Thanksgiving and see how's she's doing..she actually seemed "humble" this time around..and the strangest thing...I saw what looked like "dad" behind me as I bought the groceries. I guess I'm just going to have to one of these days, "talk" to these people I seem to be seeing that look like my parents and people I know on the proverbial "other side".  I thought afterwards I wonder if she had egs, milk, butter, and essentials to cook things with, but hopefully with all this stuff being "complete" she won't need anything more to much. If indeed she had an "family" I most likely would not be able to help her much...because for us right now..this is an lot. So it was an $100 present plus the things out my pantry...but it didn't amount to much anything more then that little envelope I sent to England/POE here an couple of months ago, considering postage and all...including last Decembers contribution with it. I better not hear anyone say, you gave her more then you gave me or vice versa. One day it might stop, an one day we night need the help ourselves also. You do what you can, while you can...and make good memories.

He makes a lot of good points.  But what I get from what he's suggesting is that we should consider the reasons, particularly financial, why we give gifts.  We've all experienced the embarrassment of receiving a gift from someone we'd never even thought of giving a gift to.  But if "reciprocation" is the only reason for giving a gift, that's where you get into the waste of money.  So it requires a bit of thought.  A gift does't have to be something bought.  I think one of the reasons we "overgift" at Christmas is because the wrapped presents look so pretty under the tree, and we all love to "open" presents.  It brings back all those good feelings from childhood.  Maybe that's the thing we need to get over.