We are now at the heart of the Christmas gift-giving season, so I thought I'd do a few posts with some of my best gift-giving tips.

Today's feature: how to save money on gift-giving.

People dread gift-giving for lots of reasons: the malls are crowded and people are cranky, people are hard to buy for, online shopping is impersonal, there's no time. The list goes on and on. But one of the most common reasons to dread gift-giving is that it's expensive. So, what can you do to limit your Christmas spending:

• Make a list of everyone you want to buy for and how much you can afford to spend (not how much you want to spend).
• Do NOT buy gifts for anyone not on that list. As you wander through stores or click around online, it's really easy to think, "O, so-and-so would LOVE that!" and then buy it. Then so-and-so feels the need to buy you something in return. And then next year you feel like your have to buy again and we're in a perpetual gift-giving arms race. Stick to your list.
• In the same way, stick to your dollar limits. You may think it's no big deal to go over by $5, but if you do that for each of 10 gift recipients, all of a sudden, that's $50. Your limits should include tax and shipping, otherwise your actual spending could go way over budget.
• Remember: It's not a sale if it costs more than you want to spend. If something is 90% off and 10% of the original price is over your limit, it's still a bad deal FOR YOU.
• Be aware of sales tactics that are designed to increase your spending. There's a reason stores put things on aisle end caps and near the cash registers.
• Before you go shopping, have a few ideas in your price range. Spending an hour searching for things online will give you a sense of what typical prices are. If you have your heart set on present A, only to get to the store to discover it's over your limit, you may decide to bust your budget just to get it over with.
• Keep reminding yourself that the cost isn't the important element of a gift – it's the thought and concern behind the gift. If you don't think about someone through the year and you don't care for them, why are you buying a present? There are no have-tos beyond treating people with respect and gratitude.