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"The holidays are all about excess \u2014 full plates of food, decadent drinks, and piles of presents are all things we&amp;#039;ve come to associate with the season. But just because your waistband might expand a few inches, doesn&amp;#039;t mean your wallet has to shrink. Follow these simple tips to have an excess of wealth this holiday season. Create a budget Sounds easy enough, but sticking to a budget is where things get sticky. Make sure you establish a realistic holiday budget based on your level of income and spending habits. If you&amp;#039;re not sure where to start, first determine your monthly take-home pay, including taxes. Next, analyze your spending patterns to see how much leaves your bank account each month for necessary living expenses, like your mortgage and electric bill. Lastly, determine the amount of discretionary money you have left by subtracting your necessary expenses from your income. What you have left is what you can use to purchase presents. Determine who to shop for Once you establish your holiday budget, determine who is going to be on your &amp;quot;nice&amp;quot; list this year. With these tough economic times, you may have to trim people off your list who might have made it in other years. If this is unthinkable to you, consider gifting baked goods or homemade presents. Or, propose a gift exchange so that everyone feels involved, but doesn&amp;#039;t feel the financial burden. Decide on a present price limit I have a large family, which makes it tough to buy presents for everyone and stay in the black. To make things easier, we set a gifting limit so that everyone is comfortable with the price and no one feels cheated. Avoid credit Rule No. 1: Holiday shopping should not have you swimming in debt. According to a 2010 Consumer Reports poll, 13.6 million Americans were still in debt by the start of the 2011 holiday season. To avoid becoming part of a statistic like this, pay for presents with cash as often as possible. You may have to cut back on some treats for yourself, like your daily latte or weekly restaurant night, but your wallet will be thanking you later. If you absolutely need to dip into credit, make sure you have a solid plan for paying it off within the next 30 to 60 days to avoid interest. And remember: Never, ever tap into your emergency fund to pay for holiday gifts. Shop right Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great times to score big holiday deals. But if you miss them, don&amp;#039;t worry \u2014 there&amp;#039;s still plenty of time to get discounts on the products and gifts you know your friends and family would love. Check out &amp;amp;lt; target=&amp;quot;_blank&amp;quot;&amp;amp;gt;this infographic from Savings.com that details the best days to buy electronics, apparel, food, toys, home d\u00E9cor and books. Don&amp;#039;t play Santa to yourself While shopping for the perfect gift for your best friend, you might spot the perfect item for yourself. Resist the impulse to buy yourself a Christmas gift and add it to your list for after the holidays. Chances are, the item will go on sale, saving you even more money. Plan ahead As with most things, getting a head start helps save you time and money and reduces stress. Start your holiday shopping as early as possible to avoid crowds and impulse buying expensive gifts. If you have a clear agenda of what to buy and when, you&amp;#039;ll come out as a financial winner this holiday season. More Great Advice From Manilla.com:  Win $500 in Manilla&amp;#039;s Holiday Photo Sweeps Save Time and Money With Our Black Friday Survival Guide Inexpensive Gifts That Look Like They Cost a Fortune Black Friday By the Numbers  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/advice/a20504/holiday-budget-tips/>