A new poll by Consumer Reports found that nearly a quarter of holiday shoppers plan to spend less money on gifts this year and will shop later. No wonder retailers like Target are concerned about their sales.

About a quarter of respondents also admitted to regifting…..a quarter spending less, a quarter regifting….I see a connection there.

As for me, I plan to spend a little more on each of my kids but everyone else will probably get donations to charity to causes they care about. Yes, this is somewhat selfish since it will lower my tax bill, but I think they will appreciate the gesture more than another scarf or coffee table book or picture frame.

I will also be paying close attention to sales, although I never get into that Black Friday business. If you do, Jackie Crosby wrote about deals being leaked online before we even smash our pumpkins. I will also do more comparison shopping online and in the local stores this year to see how far I can stretch my cash.

How do you plan your holiday giving? Do you come up with a total dollar amount or amount per person? Do you charge gifts or set money aside all year?

I’m sure other Ka-Blog readers would like to know what works for you as we enter a season where it’s easy to get carried away with impulse purchases and overspending.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Main, budgeting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.