One thing I've done is make my holiday gift list. Man, it's long!! All I could think was, "How much am I going to spend this holiday? Can I afford to get something for everyone on my list?"
To that end, I grabbed my laptop, got comfy on my couch, opened up an Excel spreadsheet, and started making a holiday gift-giving budget 
. I listed potential gifts and expenses for my family, extended family, friends, neighbors, hostess gifts for parties, etc.
After going through the budget, I realized that I needed to develop a gift-giving strategy — something that allowed me to give meaningful gifts but also stay within my budget constraints. Maybe I could give gifts to kids only, make family gift baskets, suggest to extended family that we pull names from a hat, contribute to a charity in a family's name, or even do a white elephant gift exchange.
I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do, but one thing is clear: Making a gift-giving budget helped me see where I needed to cut back/modify/expand my gift-giving so I don't spend blindly.
What are your gift-giving strategies?
Editor's note: The Student LoanDown team will be spending the rest of the week in tryptophan-induced comas . We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving — gobble, gobble!
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