Have a tightwad Christmas

Try these ideas for keeping holiday spending under control, finding alternative gifts and making your hard-earned dollars go farther this year.
(Liz Pulliam Weston)

Trim down and try something new
If the grand total is overwhelming, start trimming your list.

Some ideas:

Agree to exchange cards instead of gifts with friends.

Have a potluck instead of an elaborate feast that requires you do all the work (and grocery shopping).

Make do with last year's decorations and clothes, or swap with friends.

Persuade your extended family to draw names rather than have everyone buy everyone else a gift.

Boot the adults and give gifts only to the kids.

Once you've got the list, consider the following ideas to help you get the most bang for your holiday bucks and skip the expensive, last-minute rush at the mall:

Cruise the deal sites. Web sites like Ben's Bargains, Deals of America, My Bargain Buddy and SlickDeals.net can alert you to killer bargains around the Web, such an Amazon.com Baby Store sale where a leopard-print fleece infant jacket could be found for $3 and a Dr. Seuss sun hat for $2.60. Another deal: a well-made acoustic guitar for $40, half the usual price, plus free shipping from Musician.com.

Nabbing the best deals often requires vigilance, since the real bargains tend to come and go quickly. The guitar deal, for example, lasted just a few hours. Of course, you'll need to make sure you're not buying a bunch of stuff you don't need or can't use. A bargain's not a bargain if it induces you to spend money you wouldn't otherwise.

Use your spare change. Got a big bucket of pennies and other coins? Haul your clanging cache to your bank, if it offers free sorting, or look for a Coinstar sorter that offers gift certificates in lieu of cash. Certain Coinstar machines waive the usual 8.9% fee when you opt for gift cards or e-certificates, and the providers include Amazon.com, iTunes, Eddie Bauer, Starbucks, Pier One and others. (You can give these cards directly, I suppose, but I argue against it in "Gift cards are not gifts." I use 'em to buy REAL gifts.)

Check your credit card rewards. You may be able to turn your frequent-flier miles or other points into decent gifts, but watch the exchange rate.

With many reward programs, you're lucky to get half a cent for every mile or point you turn in for merchandise, and some offer much worse deals than that.

Sell last year's misfires. Typically, the longer you wait to sell something, the less value it has. So round up the latest batch of clothes that didn't fit, gadgets you didn't need or knickknacks that didn't suit and get them listed on an auction site like eBay (good for collectibles, clothes and small electronics) or a classified site like Craigslist (best for big, bulky items). If weather in your area permits, a pre-holiday yard sale might help you generate some coin.

Click here for even more ways to save.