On Saturday, we put up our Christmas tree finally, it's a little late but whats important is we have one this Christmas. Even though this one is a re-use it's still beautiful and besides with this economy we have to cut back a little bit on expenses.

Speaking of cutting back expenses this holiday season, I understand that no matter how we try or to achieve our goals of savings we don't always get that goal, but being close to it will be helpful. For this season, I did have a little bit of shopping for Christmas but not as generous as last year. Being that I am in school and taking extra classes, it would be hard to squeeze extra bucks for some generous gift giving and I know the people I know would understand that. By next year this time I am expected to be graduating for my degree, then maybe it's a different story.

I found some other ways to give gift for Christmas that is I personally believe would be more thoughtful than spending a lot of bucks but does not meet some appreciation. Take a look, it might be a way for you.

Organization

"Archive photos and put them in an album (most people don’t have the time to put their pictures away and catalogue them). Take it even further by making your own scrapbook or collage." — Editorial assistant Sara Sugarman

Other Sanity-Savers

• Offer to take on a massive cleaning project (say, sorting through an attic or basement), reorganizing closets, or dusting and scrubing an exhausted new mom's house.
• Help someone use digital tools to stay on top of things: Show them how to use online calendars, set up e-mail folders, or how to transfer music or data onto a computer or back-up hard drive.
• Collect recipes in a book or binder.

What do you think? More savings? Click here.