The holiday season is a time full of fun events and gift-giving. With all the excitement, spending more than you have is easy. You may even rely on credit cards to cover the cost.

Without proper planning, you might find that repaying the credit card debt after the holiday season becomes impossible and leads you to bankruptcy. Following these tips can help you have a wonderful holiday season without winding up in bankruptcy court.

Have a spending budget

Before you go gift shopping, evaluate your finances and determine how much money you have available. Once you have a budget established, decide how much money you want to spend per person. Knowing this limit allows you to shop for items within your budget. An easy way to stick with the spending limit is to use cash only. Once you have spent all the cash designated for one person, do not purchase anything else for that person.

Limit extra spending

To increase your gift budget, you can decrease other expenditures. Consider cooking meals at home, skipping the morning coffee and clipping coupons for daily necessities.

Purchase gift cards to shop online

Many online retailers offer free shipping and discounted prices during the holidays, saving you time and money. However, online purchases require electronic payment, making overspending easy. One way to avoid this is to use your holiday cash to buy gift cards. These gift cards have a finite limit and allow you to shop online and stay within your budget.

Holiday shopping does not have to result in bankruptcy. Proper planning allows you to share the joy of gift-giving with financial confidence.