It is 11 weeks until Christmas Eve.  In keeping with this week's theme, this week's countdown will focus on ways you can plan to save money on Christmas.

You may feel that "penny pinching" for the holidays is more Scrooge than Santa, but it isn't.  The Christmas spirit is an openness of heart, not of pocketbooks. Spending more doesn't mean loving more.  Replacing expenditure with thoughtfulness is a better way to express Christmas spirit.

So, in practice, what can you do?  Thinking about this eleven weeks out gives you more options than if you wait until the last minute.  Here are some things you might choose from:

• Consider setting a dollar limit on gifts exchanged within the family or among a group of friends. That can force creativity and prevent a competition to see who can spend the most.  You can even decide against giving gifts at all.  It's OK.  Really, it is.
• Rather than buying gifts in a group of friends, consider a special outing together.  The time together is more valuable and it doesn't have to be dusted.
• You might wish to cut back on your decorations — limiting the use of power for Christmas lights and the need to buy extra decorations, trees, wreaths, etc.
• Look over your Christmas card list.  You don't need to mail a card to your next door neighbor.  You can walk it over.  You might want to eliminate some cards, especially to people you barely know.
• Limit your holiday meal menus.  No Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner needs 6 side dishes and 3 desserts.
• Watch for sales and keep a list of the gifts you have already bought to avoid overbuying and to get the best prices.
• Think twice about the little extra gifts you give.  No teacher in America needs another coffee mug, a tree ornament that says "World's Best Teacher," a box of chocolate, or a bottle of hand lotion.  Use the time before November ends to organize families to contribute to a useful gift — like a gift card that a teacher can use to buy classroom supplies or books. It may not seem exciting, but teachers spend a lot of their own money on these supplies.  Paying for those supplies gives a teacher more disposable imcome to spend for things more valuable than hand lotion.

These are just some ideas.  Do you have any to share?