Ah, the holidays. Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, and many good sales are coming up and you’re pretty scared for your wallet. What do you do? Well, here are some tips to help you save some money.

First of all, figure out who you’re buying gifts for. Usually I figure out what I’m getting for my family first, since it’s easier to think of something for them before my friends. With the latter, you’ll need to be careful. If you only have 1 or 2 close friends, it’ll probably be easier to decide a price range between all of you. This will clear up any sort of misunderstandings so all of you know you’re not buying over/underpriced gifts for each other.

If you have a larger group of friends, try to opt for a different kind of gift exchange like a secret Santa. Only do this if your group of friends gets along well and you’re all fairly close. If you do this right, you can all meet up and exchange presents, that way everyone is happy and you can save some money.

If you know you can’t buy gifts, go for something festive yet frugal. If you can bake, make cookies for your friends and give them out at school. If you’re good at drawing, maybe make Christmas cards. Another idea is to write (yes, handwrite) letters to your friends for Christmas. People appreciate handwritten letters more than you think, and it’s a still great way to let people know you care, even if you can’t buy gifts.

Finally, there are a number of coupon apps that can help you get better deals this holiday season. I’d recommend the RetailMeNot app if you’re shopping at the mall and the Honey app if you’re shopping online. Good luck this holiday season!