15 holiday financial stress-busters

• Once you've decided to scale back on gift giving, how do you tell kids who have come to expect a certain outlay? "Parents are a lot more aware than children of the cost of gifts they're getting," says Christine Langlois. "You could probably cut back quite a bit without them noticing – as long as the rituals and celebrations are the same."

• Older kids, of course, can be prepared ahead of time if Christmas is going to seem more downscale. Include them in the discussions and let them be part of the solution. "You can explain to teens that finances are a bit tight this year or that you'd like to scale back on gifts in favour of other activities," says Christine.

• Scale back transparently, suggests associate art director JoAnn McHardy, by buying a number of inexpensive items and wrapping them individually.

• Keep to a tight gift-giving budget by being creative - and that doesn't mean making all your gifts. "This year my father is taking my granddad, who is now in a home, to the tavern for the afternoon. An inexpensive yet priceless gift for an aged, nearly blind man," wrote Diana Hyman of Tottenham, Ont. "Time together is the greatest gift of all, especially to our parents and grandparents."

• Susan Chung of Toronto gives out gift certificates she makes herself for meals or evenings at her place. Certificates can be for movies and munchies, coffee and homemade dessert, or a home-cooked meal.

• Are any of the gifts on your buy-for list "duty gifts"? Send a great card instead.

• Party and dress-up clothes are notoriously expensive - and little used. Check out nearly-new options for everybody in the family at thrift stores like Ex-Toggery, Value Village, Once Upon a Child and local consignment shops.

• Instead of splurging on decor, buy lengths of wide red and green ribbon at a craft store and tie bows on everything: doorknobs, banisters and the candelabra, suggests food and nutrition senior editor Beverley Renahan.

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