Ignore the sales... IGNORE THE SALES!

I've spent many years using the poor college student excuse for not buying wonderful gifts for friends and family that really deserve so much. Now that I'm finally a real engineer :) shouldn't I be showering my loved ones with gifts? Even though I'm in debt, there are some really good deals this Friday...

NO!

Thanks to Clever Dude's post about Black Friday and Buying out of Budget, I have decided that I do not NEED anything. My friends and family will understand one more year of cards and homemade gifts. My priority is to get out of debt. I don't have money saved for gifts and I don't have much room in my current budget.

Now is the time to start preparing for next year's holidays. Tonight I will make a list of all of the people that really deserve wonderful gifts and how much I would usually rationalize spending. I will spend time making these people heartfelt cards and re-adjusting my 2008 budget to include a saving for gifts category. I will buy a couple small gifts for immediate family and thats it. No Wii's, DVD Players, GPS, or iPods from me. Sorry. But... by this time next year I will finally be able to buy some decent gifts guilt-free! Thats right, next year I'm going to be prepared to pay cash for gift similar a post I read over at Gather Little by Little.

Even though I feel guilty now, I'm pretty sure that everyone will understand. The true meaning of the holidays has nothing to do with gifts anyways. This Thanksgiving I will make sure that everyone I love knows how thankful I am to have them in my life. No amount of money or lack of it could change that.