I know that I post a lot about buying Christmas gifts. I love giving (and receiving!) gifts.

But buying gifts can be very expensive. There is nothing wrong with trying to save money around the holidays. One way to do that is to set some limits on gift-giving. Gatherings of family and friends in the next week or so offer a great opprtunity to have a conversation about gifts before most people (elves excepted) have done the bulk of their shopping.

If you decide to limit gifts this year, here are some ways to structure the limit:

• Set a maximum dollar amount per person. (Depending on the number of people involved, this may not be effective. No one wants 35 $5 gifts.)
• Exchange names and give a bigger gift to that one person.
• Limit gifts to immediate family. Or to those under 18.
• Give only handmade gifts.
• In lieu of giving gifts, do something together: see a show, take a trip, etc. Each person is responsible for his/her own costs.

I've used variations on these over the years. What methods have you used to successfully limit your gift-giving expense?