The holidays are here. It's a great and wonderful time that just about everyone waits the whole year for. December is a great month...until the bills start piling in around mid January. Then you have a crisis. Here are a few tips to keep December great without tearing your hair out when you actually have to pay for it.

Here are a few ways to save money at Christmas without sacrificing fun. Even if money is tight, it's easy to have fun at Christmas, you just have to be creative.

1)Go Sledding.

Focus on activities that are cheap and free. Christmas is about families spending time together and forgetting about their problems. While you could go shopping or take the kids to a movie, why don't you have some real fun and take them sledding. My dad built the fastest sled in the world for about $12 when I was kid. There are a number of things you can do as a family that are not all that expensive but will get you into the Christmas spirit. Try decorating the house or baking Christmas cookies. If you want an outdoor adventure, hike into the woods and snag the biggest tree you can find (Clark Griswold style).

2)Watch Rudolph or National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

Again, for a relatively low price you can get the family together to watch your favorite Christmas classics. All you need is a VCR or DVD player, hot chocolate, and marshmellows. This is one of the cheapest traditions we have as a family and I look forward to it every year. Our National Lampoons Christmas Vacation DVD has paid for itself many times (instead of renting it).

3)Take The Family Out To See Christmas Lights

Again this is another activity that you can do with your family that they will remember. I don't remember what I got for Christmas when I was 9, but I do remember all the lights. This was a big dael to our family and it made for some great memories.

4)Consider What Christmas Really Means

Everyone wants their kids to have the best Christmas. In my opinion, this has very little to do with the amount of money you spend on your children. This has to do with how much time you spend with them. Growing up, it was pretty much the rule that mom would spend $100 each on all of us. I had friends who were getting $1000 or more in Christmas presents every year. While I always wish I could have more stuff, my Christmas was never ever bothered by the fact that we didn't have a lot of money. Even when I was a kid, I knew the magic of Christmas was just as strong in our crappy house as it was in my friends homes.

So when you are buying your presents this year, buy as much as you can afford to give, and nothing more. Do not sacrifice your children's Christmas next year by overdoing it this year. If you don't have as large of a budget for Christmas this year, make up for it, by doing something constructive and fun with your kids. They'll be much happier than seeing you destroyed when it comes January.